BX  5199   .L3  R84  1856' 
Ryle,  J.   c.  1816-1900 
The  priest,   the  Puritan, 
the  preacher 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Arclnive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/priestpuritanpreOOryle 


! 


1 


THE  PRIEST, 
THE  PURITAN, 

THE  PREACHER. 

BY  THE^ 

REV.  J.  C.  EYLE, 

AUTUOB  or  "living  or  dead,"  "wheat  or  chaff,"  "STABTLIUa 
QUESTIONS,"  "  EICH  OB  POOB,"  ETC, 


NEW  YORK: 
ROBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS, 
No.  285  BROADWAY. 


1856. 


THOHAS  B.  SMITH,  n.  CRAIGHEAD, 

8TEBE0TTPER  AND  ELECTROTTFER,  PRINTER, 

82  i  84  Beekman  St.,  N.  Y.  S3  Vesey  St.,  N.  Y. 


contents. 

I. — Bishop  Latimer   7 

II. — Baxter  and  his  Times   91 

y 

III.  — Life  and  Labors  op  George  "Whitepield   161 

IV.  — Twelve  hints  to  Yocng  Men   233 

v.— "Be  Zealous"   293 

VI. — "  I  HAVE  somewhat  TO   SAT  TOTO  ThEE"  345 


LECTURE  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


I  HAVE  no  doubt  the  name  of  Bishop  Lati- 
mer is  known  to  almost  all  who  are  here  to- 
night. There  are,  probably,  few  who  have 
forgotten  that  three  hundred  years  ago  there 
was  such  a  queen  of  England  as  bloody  Mary, 
and  that  men  were  burned  alive  in  her  reign 
because  they  would  not  desert  Christ's  truth — 
and  that  one  of  these  men  was  Bishop  Latimer. 

But  I  want  young  Englishmen  to  know  these 
things  better.  I  want  them  to  become  thor- 
oughly famihar  with  the  lives,  the  acts,  and 
the  opinions  of  the  leading  English  reformers. 
Their  narnes  ought  to  be  something  better  than 
hackneyed  ornaments  to  point  a  platform 
speech,  and  rhetorical  traps  to  ehcit  an  Exeter 
Hall  cheer.   Their  jprincipks  ought  no  longer 


10 


BISHOP  LATIMEB. 


to  be  vague,  hazy  shadows,  "  looming  in  the 
distance,"  but  something  clear,  distinct,  and 
•well-defined  before  your  mind's  eyes.  My 
desire  is,  that  you  may  understand  that  the 
best  interests  of  this  country  are  bound  up  with 
Protestantism.  My  wish  is,  that  you  may 
write  on  your  hearts  that  the  well-being  of 
England  depends  not  on  commerce,  or  politics, 
or  steam,  or  armies,  or  navies,  or  gold,  or  corn  ; 
but  on  the  maintenance  of  the  principles  of  the 
English  Eeformation. 

The  times  you  live  in  call  loudly  for  the 
diffusion  of  knowledge  about  Enghsh  Church 
history.  Opinions  are  boldly  broached  now-a- 
days  of  so  startling  a  nature,  that  they  make  a 
man  rub  his  eyes,  and  say,  "Where  ami?" 
A  state  of  feeling  is  growing  up  ainong  us 
about  Eomanism  and  Protestantism  which,  to 
say  the  least,  is  most  unhealthy.  It  has  in- 
creased, is  increasing,  and  ought  to  be  dimin- 
ished. Nothing  is  so  likely  to  check  this  state 
of  feehng  as  the  production  of  a  few  plain  facts. 
If  you  want  to  convince  a  Scotchman,  they 
say,  you  must  give  him  a  long  argument.  If 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


11 


you  -want  to  convince  an  Englishman,  you 
must  give  him  plain  facts.  Facts  are  the  prin- 
cipal commodity  I  have  brought  here  to-night. 
If  any  one  has  come  to  hear  private  specula- 
tions, or  oratorical  display,  I  am  afraid  he  will 
go  away  disappointed;  but  if  any  one  likes 
plain  facts,  I  think  I  shall  be  able  to  supply 
him  with  a  few. 

Are  any  of  you  in  doubt  who  is  a  true  mem- 
ber of  the  Church  of  England?  Are  you  per- 
plexed by  the  rise  and  progress  of  what  are 
foolishly  called  "  Church  views  ?"  Come  with 
me  to-night,  and  pay  a  visit  to  one  of  the 
Fathers  of  the  English  Church.  Let  us  put 
into  the  witness-box  one  of  the  most  honest 
and  out-spoken  bishops  of  the  days  of  the 
English  Eeformation.  Let  us  examine  the  life 
and  opinions  of  good  old  Latimer. 

Are  any  of  you  doubting  what  is  the  true 
character  of  the  Church  of  Kome  ?  Are  you 
bewildered  by  some  of  those  plausible  gentle- 
men who  tell  you  there  is  no  fundamental 
difference  between  the  Anglican  and  Eomish 
Churches  ?    Are  you  puzzled  by  that  intense 


12 


BISHOP  LATIMEB. 


yearning  after  so-called  Catholic  principles 
which  distinguishes  some  misguided  church- 
men, and  which  exhibits  itself  in  Catholic 
teaching,  Cathohc  ceremonies.  Catholic  books 
of  devotion,  and  Cathohc  architecture  ?  Come 
with  me  to-night,  and  turn  over  a  few  old 
pages  in  English  history.  Let  us  see  what 
England  actually  was  when  Eomish  teachers 
instructed  the  English  people,  and  had  things 
all  their  own  way.  Let  us  see  what  the  Church 
of  Eome  does  when  she  has  complete  power. 
Let  us  see  how  she  treats  the  friends  of  an  open 
Bible,  of  private  judgment,  and  of  justification 
by  faith.  Let  us  see  how  the  Church  of  Eome 
dealt  with  Bishop  Latimer. 

And  now,  without  further  preface,  let  me 
try  to  tell  you  something  about — 

I.  Latimer's  times. 

n.  Latimer's  life,  and 

m.  Latimer's  opinions. 

L  The  times  of  Bishop  Latimer  deserve  at- 
tentive consideration.  It  is  impossible  to  form 
a  just  estimate  of  a  man's  conduct  unless  we 
know  the  ciicumstances  in  which  he  is  placed, 


BISHOP  LATIMEH. 


13 


and  tlie  difficulties  with,  wliich  he  has  to  con- 
tend. No  one  is  thoroughly  aware  of  the 
extent  of  our  obligations  to  the  noble  band  ,  of 
English  Eeformers  who  is  not  acquainted  with 
the  actual  state  of  England  when  they  began 
their  work,  and  the  amazing  disadvantages 
under  which  their  work  was  carried  on. 

Latimer  was  bom  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VlL 
He  lived  through  the  reigns  of  Henry  VIH, 
and  Edward  VI.,  and  was  put  to  death  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Mary.  He  began  life  at  a  pe- 
riod when  Popery  bore  undisputed  sway  in 
this  country.  He  witnessed  the  beginning  of 
the  breach  between  Henry  VIII.  and  Eome, 
and  the  establishment  of  a  transition  state  of 
religion  in  England.  He  lived  to  see  the  full 
development  of  Protestantism  under  Edward 
YI.,  and  the  compilation  of  a  Liturgy  and 
Articles  very  slightly  differing  from  those  we 
have  at  this  day.  Of  each  of  these  three  peri- 
ods I  must  say  a  few  words. 

The  period  of  Latimer's  life  when  Popery 
was  supreme  in  England,  was  a  period  of  utter 
spiritual  darkness.  The  depth  of  superstition 
2 


14 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


in  wliicli  our  worthy  forefathers  were  sunk  is 
enough  to  make  one's  hair  stand  on  end.  No 
doubt  there  were  many  Lollards,  and  followers 
of  Wycliflfe,  scattered  over  the  land,  who  held 
the  truth,  and  were  the  salt  of  the  nation.  But 
the  fierce  persecution  with  which  these  good 
men  were  generally  assailed  prevented  their 
making  much  progress.  They  barely  main- 
tained their  own  ground.  And  as  for  the  mass 
of  the  population,  gross  darkness  covered  their 
minds. 

Most  of  the  priests  and  teachers  of  religion 
were  themselves  profoundly  ignorant  of  every- 
thing they  ought  to  have  known.  They  were 
generally  ordained  without  any  adequate  ex- 
amination as  to  learning  or  character.  Many 
of  them,  though  they  could  read  their  brevia- 
ries, knew  nothing  whatever  of  the  Bible. 
Some,  according  to  Strype,  the  historian,  were 
scarcely  able  to  say  the  Lord's  prayer,  and  not 
a  few  were  unable  to  repeat  the  ten  command- 
ments. The  prayers  of  the  Church  were  in 
the  Latin  language,  which  hardly  any  body 
understood.  Preaching  there  was  scarcely  any, 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


15 


and  wliat  there  was  was  grossly  unscriptural 
and  unedifying.  Quarterly  sermons  were  pre- 
scribed to  the  cler<ry,  but  not  insisted  on.  Mass, 
according  to  Latimer,  was  not  to  be  omitted 
for  a  single  Sunday ;  but  sermons  might  be 
omitted  for  twenty  Sundays  together,  and  no- 
body found  fault. 

Huge  nests  of  ordained  men  were  dotted 
over  the  face  of  England  in  the  shape  of  ab- 
beys and  monasteries.  The  inhabitants  of  these 
beautiful  buildings  were  seldom  very  holy  and 
self-denying,  and  were  often  men  of  most  prof- 
ligate and  disreputable  lives.  Their  morals 
were  just  what  might  have  been  expected  from 
fullness  of  bread  and  abundance  of  idleness. 
They  did  next  to  nothing  for  the  advancement 
of  learning.  They  did  nothing  for  the  spread 
of  true  religion.  Two  things  only  they  cared 
for ;  and  those  two  were  to  fill  their  own  pock- 
ets, and  to  keep  up  their  own  power.  For  the 
one  purpose  they  persuaded  weak  and  dying 
people  to  give  money  and  land  to  the  Church, 
under  the  specious  pretence  that  they  would 
in  this  way  be  delivered  from  purgatory,  and 


16 


BISHOP  LATIMEK. 


their  faith  proved  by  their  good  works.  For 
the  other  purpose  they  claimed  to  hold  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  To  them  con- 
fession of  sins  must  be  made.  Without  their 
absolution  and  extreme  unction  no  man  could 
be  saved.  Without  their  masses  no  soul  could 
be  redeemed  from  purgatory.  In  short,  they 
were,  practically,  the  mediators  between  Christ 
and  man,  and  to  injure  them  was  the  highest 
offense  and  sin.  Old  Fuller  tells  us,  for  exam- 
ple, that  in  1489,  a  certain  Italian  got  an  im- 
mense sum  of  money  in  England  by  "  having 
power  from  the  Pope  to  absolve  people  from 
usury,  simony,  theft,  manslaughter,  fornication, 
and  adultery,  and  all  crimes  whatsoever,  except 
smiting  the  clergy,  and  conspiring  against  the 
Pope."  (i.  532,  Tegg's  edition.)  Such  were 
Romish  priests  in  Latimer's  youth,  when  Pope- 
ry was  last  rampant  in  England.  To  say  that 
they  were  generally  ignorant,  covetous,  sensu- 
al, and  despotic  tyrants  over  the  souls  and 
bodies  of  men,  is  not  saying  one  jot  more  than 
the  truth. 

When  priests  in  Latimer's  youth  were  men 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


17 


of  this  stamp,  you  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear 
that  the  'jpeoph  were  utterly  ignorant  of  true 
religion.  It  would  have  been  miraculous,  in- 
deed, if  it  had  been  otherwise,  when  they  had 
neither  sound  preaching  to  hear  nor  Bibles  to 
read.  A  New  Testament  could  not  be  bought 
for  less  than  21.  16s.  2>d.,  and  the  buyer  was 
in  danger  of  being  considered  a  heretic  for 
purchasing  it.  The  Christianity  of  the  vast 
majority  was,  naturally  enough,  a  mere  name 
and  form.  The  Sabbath  was  a  day  of  sport 
and  pastime,  and  not  a  day  of  solemn  worship. 
Not  one  in  a  hundred,  perhaps,  could  have 
rightly  answered  the  question,  "  What  shall  I 
do  to  be  saved?"  or  given  the  slightest  account 
of  justification,  regeneration,  sanctification,  the 
office  of  Christ,  or  the  work  of  the  Spirit.  A 
man's  only  idea  of  the  way  to  heaven  generally 
was,  to  do  as  the  priest  told  him,  and  to  belong 
to  the  true  Church.  Thus  the  blind  led  the 
blind,  and  all  wallowed  in  the  ditch  together. 

AU  the  practical  religion  that  the  mass  of 
the  laity  possessed,  consisted  in  prayers  to  the 
Virgin  and  saints — pilgrimages  to  holy  places— 
2* 


18 


BISHOP  LATIMEK. 


and  adoration  of  images  and  relics.  The  list 
of  their  superstitious  practices  would  make  an 
appalling  catalogue.  They  hastened  to  the 
church  for  holy  water  before  a  thunder-storm. 
They  resorted  to  St.  Rooke  in  times  of  pesti- 
lence. They  prayed  to  St.  Pernel  in  an  ague. 
Young  women,  desiring  to  be  married,  sought 
the  help  of  St.  Nicholas.  Wives,  weary  of 
their  husbands,  betook  themselves  to  St.  Un- 
cumber.  One  hundred  thousand  pilgrims  vis- 
ited the  tomb  of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket,  at  Can- 
terbury, in  one  year,  in  order  to  help  their 
souls  toward  heaven.  In  one  year,  at  Canter- 
bury Cathedral,  there  was  offered  at  Christ's 
altar,  3Z.  2s.  6c?. ;  on  the  Virgin  Mary's,  6Sl.  5s. 
6d. ;  and  on  Thomas  a  Backet's,  832Z.  12s.  3c?. 
The  images  worshiped  were  often  gross  cheats 
as  well  as  idols.  At  Bexley,  in  Kent,  there 
■was  a  famous  crucifix  on  which  the  figure  of 
our  Lord  would  move  its  head,  hands,  and  feet, 
roll  its  eyes,  move  its  lips,  and  bend  its  brow. 
It  would  hang  its  lips  when  silver  was  offered 
to  it,  and  shake  its  head  merrily  when  the 
offering  was  gold.    And  aU  tliis  was  thought 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


19 


miraculous.  At  length  it  was  discovered  that 
the  image  was  full  of  springs  and  wires,  and 
that  the  movements  were  caused  by  priests  or 
their  agents  secreted  near  it.  The  relics  wor- 
shiped were  as  monstrous  and  absurd  as  the 
images.  At  Hales,  in  Gloucestershire,  there 
was  shown,  in  a  crystal  phial,  what  was  call- 
ed the  blood  of  Christ,  but  it  was  at  length 
discovered  to  be  the  blood  of  a  duck.  At 
Eeading,  there  was  shown  an  angel  with  one 
wing,  who  brought  over  the  spear  that  pierced 
our  Lord's  side.  At  Bury,  in  Suffolk,  the 
coals  that  roasted  St.  Lawrence,  the  parings 
of  St.  Edmond's  toe-nails,  and  St.  Thomas  ^ 
Becket's  penknife  and  boots,  were  all  religi- 
ously adored.  As  to  wood  of  the  true  Cross, 
enough  was  found  in  the  churches,  when  rel- 
ics were  finally  cast  out,  to  have  made  two  or 
three  crosses.  As  to  the  bones  of  saints,  there 
were  whole  heaps  which  had  been  venerated 
for  years  which  proved,  at  length,  to  be  bones 
of  pigs.  These  are  dreadful  things  to  tell,  but 
they  ought  to  be  known.  All  these  things 
the  Church  of  Rome  knew,  connived  at,  sane- 


20 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


tioned,  defended,  taught,  and  enforced  on  her 
members.  This  was  the  state  of  religion  in 
England  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago, 
•when  the  English  reformers  were  raised  up. 
This  was  English  Christianity  in  the  childhood 
and  youth  of  Hugh  Latimer. 

The  second  period  of  Latimer's  life,  during 
which  England  was  in  a  state  of  transition  be- 
tween Eomanism  and  Protestantism,  presents 
many  curious  features. 

We  see,  on  the  one  hand,  a  reformation  of 
religion  begun  by  a  king  from  motives  which, 
to  say  the  least,  were  not  spiritual.  It  would 
be  absurd  to  suppose  that  a  sensual  tyrant  like 
Henry  VIII.  came  to  a  breach  with  the  Pope 
for  any  other  reason  than  that  the  Pope  crossed 
his  will.  We  see  his  pretended  scruples  about 
his  marriage  with  Catharine  of  Arragon  bring- 
ing him  into  communication  with  Cranmer 
and  Latimer.  We  see  him,  at  one  time,  so  far 
guided  by  the  advice  of  these  good  men,  that, 
like  Herod,  he  does  many  things  that  are 
right,  and  calculated  to  advance  the  cause  of 
the  Gospel.    He  makes  Cranmer,  Archbishop 


BISHOP  LATIMEK. 


21 


of  Canterbury,  and  shows  him  favor  to  the 
very  end  of  his  days.  He  allows  the  Bible  to 
be  printed  in  English,  and  placed  in  churches. 
He  commands  images  to  be  broken,  and  puts 
down  many  gross  superstitions.  He  boldly 
denies  the  doctrine  of  the  Pope's  supremacy. 
He  dissolves  the  monasteries,  and  puts  to  open 
shame  the  wickedness  of  their  inmates.  All 
this  we  see,  and  are  thankful.  We  see  him, 
at  another  time,  defending  popish  dogmas,  and 
burning  men,  who,  like  the  martyr,  Lambert, 
denied  them.  We  see  him  putting  forth  the 
famous  Six  Articles,  which  re-asserted  transub- 
stantiation,  private  masses,  clerical  celibacy, 
vows  of  chastity,  auricular  confession,  and  the 
denial  of  the  cup  to  the  laity.  Worst  of  all, 
we  see  in  him  the  marks  of  a  proud,  self-willed, 
sensual  man  all  his  life  long,  and  an  utter 
want  of  evidence  that  his  heart  was  ever  right 
in  the  sight  of  God.  The  use  of  a  man  who 
was  guilty  of  such  inconsistencies,  to  do  God's 
work,  is  among  the  deep  things  of  God's  prov- 
idence. We  can  not  understand  it.  We  must 
wait. 


22 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


Turning,  on  the  other  hand,  from  Henry 
VIII.  to  the  first  English  reformers,  we  see  in 
them  strong  indications  of  what  Fuller  calls 
"  a  twilight  religion."  "We  see  them  putting 
forth  books  in  Henry  Vm.'s  reign,  which, 
though  an  immense  improvement  and  advance 
upon  Romish  teaching,  still  contain  some  things 
which  are  not  scriptural.  Such  were  the  "  ne- 
cessary erudition,"  and  the  "  institution  of  a 
Christian  man."  We  see  them,  however, 
gradually  growing  in  spiritual  knowledge, 
perhaps  unawares  to  themselves,  and  specially 
as  to  the  error  of  transubstantiation.  We  see 
them  continually  checked  and  kept  back, 
partly  by  the  arbitrary  conduct  of  the  king, 
partly  by  the  immense  difficulty  of  working 
side  by  side  with  a  popish  party  in  the  church, 
and  partly  by  the  great  ignorance  of  the  paro- 
chial clergy.  Nevertheless,  on  comparing  the 
end  of  Henry  VIII.'s  reign  with  the  beginning, 
we  see  plain  proof  that  much  ground  was 
gained.  We  learn  to  admire  the  overruling 
power  of  God,  who  can  use  a  Henry  VIII. 
just  as  he  did  a  Nebuchadnezzar  or  Sennache- 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


23 


rib,  for  the  accomplishment  of  His  own  pur- 
poses. And  last,  but  not  least,  we  learn  to 
admire  the  patient  perseverance  of  the  reform- 
ers. Though  they  had  but  a  little  strength 
they  used  it.  Though  they  had  but  a  small 
door  open,  they  entered  in  by  it.  Though 
they  had  but  one  talent,  they  laid  it  out  heart- 
ily for  God,  and  did  not  bury  it  in  the  ground. 
Though  they  had  but  a  little  light,  they  lived 
fully  up  to  it  If  they  could  not  do  what 
they  would,  they  did  what  they  could,  and 
were  blessed  in  their  deed.  Such  was  the 
second  period  of  Latimer's  life.  Never  let  it 
be  forgotten  that,  at  that  time,  the  foundations 
of  the  Church  of  England  were  excavated, 
and  vast  heaps  of  rubbish  removed  out  of  the 
way  of  the  builders  who  were  to  follow. 
Yiewed  in  this  light,  it  will  always  be  an 
interesting  period  to  the  student  of  church 
history. 

The  last  period  of  Latimer's  life,  which  com-  , 
prises  the  reign  of  Edward  VL,  is,  in  many 
respects,  very  different  from  the  two  periods  to 
which  I  have  already  adverted.    The  cause  of 


24 


BISHOP  LATIMEE, 


English  Protestantism  made  immense  progress 
during  Edward's  short  but  remarkable  tenure 
of  power.  It  was  truly  said  of  him  by  Hook- 
er, that  "  he  died  young,  but  lived  long,  if  life 
be  action."  Released  from  the  bondage  of  a 
tyrannical  king's  interference,  Cranmer  and 
his  friends  went  forward  in  the  work  of  relig- 
ious reformation  with  rapid  strides.  Bonner 
and  Gardiner  were  no  longer  allowed  to  keep 
them  back.  Refusing  to  take  part  in  the  good 
work,  these  two  popish  prelates  were  deposed, 
and  put  to  sdence.  Faithful  men,  like  Ridley 
and  Hooper,  were  placed  on  the  episcopal 
bench.  An  immense  clearance  of  popish  cer- 
emonies was  effected.  A  Liturgy  was  com- 
piled, which  differed  very  slightly  from  our 
present  Prayer-Book.  The  forty -two  articles 
of  religion  were  drawn  up,  which  form  the 
basis  of  our  own  thirty-nine.  The  first  book 
of  Homilies  was  put  forth,  in  order  to  supply 
the  want  of  preachers.  An  accuracy  and 
clearness  of  doctrinal  statement  was  arrived  at, 
which  had  hitherto  been  unknown.  Learned 
foreigners,  like  Bucer  and  Peter  Martyr,  were 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


25 


invited  to  visit  England,  and  appointed  Kegius 
Professors  of  Divinity  at  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge. How  mucli  further  the  Eeformera 
might  have  carried  the  work  of  reformation, 
if  they  had  had  time,  it  is  useless  now  to  spec- 
ulate. Judging  by  the  changes  they  effected 
in  a  very  few  years,  they  would  probably  have 
made  our  church  as  nearly  perfect  as  a  visible 
Church  can  be,  if  they  had  not  been  stopped 
by  Edward's  premature  death. 

There  was,  however,  one  thing  whicb  the 
Eeformera  of  Edward  the  Sixth's  reign  could 
not  accomplish.  They  could  not  change  the 
hearts  of  the  parochial  clergy.  Thousands  of 
clergymen  continued  to  hold  office  in  the 
church  of  England,  who  had  no  sympathy 
with  the  proceedings  of  Cranmer  and  his 
party.  There  was  no  getting  rid  of  these 
worthies,  for  they  were  ready  to  promise  any 
thing,  sign  any  thing,  swear  any  thing,  in 
order  to  keep  their  livings.  But  while  they 
yielded  compliance  to  Cranmer's  injunctions 
and  commands,  they  were  graceless,  ignorant, 
and  serai- papists  at  heart.  The  questions 
3 


26 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


whicla  Bishop  Hooper  found  it  necessary  to 
put  to  the  dean,  prebendaries,  and  clergy  of 
the  diocese  of  Gloucester  on  his  first  visitation, 
furnish  us  with  a  sad  illustration  of  the  state 
of  English  clergymen  in  Edward  the  sixth's 
time.  They  are  as  follows :  "  How  many 
commandments  are  there?  Where  are  they 
written  ?  Can  you  say  them  by  heart  ?  What 
are  the  articles  of  the  Christian  faith  ?  Can 
you  repeat  them  ?  Can  you  confirm  them  by 
Scripture  ?  Can  you  recite  the  Lord's  prayer  ? 
How  do  you  know  it  to  be  the  Lord's  prayer  ? 
Where  is  it  written?"  These  questions  are 
sad  enough,  but  what  will  you  think  of  the 
result  of  the  inquiry  ?  Out  of  three  hundred 
and  eleven  clergymen  in  the  diocese  of  Glou- 
cester, it  turned  out  that  one  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  could  not  repeat  the  ten  command- 
ments, and  out  of  these  thirty-one  could  not 
state  in  what  part  of  the  Scriptures  they  were 
to  be  found.  Forty  of  the  three  hundred  and 
eleven  could  not  tell  where  the  Lord's  prayer 
was  written,  and  thirty-one  did  not  know  who 
was  its  Author.    (Hooper's  works,  vol.  ii.,  p. 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


27 


151.)  Facts  such  as  these  are  painful  and  as- 
tounding ;  but  it  is  most  important  that  you 
should  know  them.  They  explain  at  once  the 
ease  with  which  bloody  Mary  restored  popery 
when  she  came  to  the  throne.  Parochial  cler- 
gymen, like  those  just  described,  were  not 
likely  to  oflfer  any  resistance  to  her  wishes. 
Facts  such  as  these  throw  great  light  on  the 
position  of  Cranmer,  and  the  reformers  of  Ed- 
ward the  Sixth's  days.  "We  probably  have 
little  idea  of  the  immense  difficulties,  both 
within  and  without,  which  beset  them.  Above 
all,  facts  such  as  these  give  you  some  idea  of 
the  condition  of  religion  in  England  even  in 
the  brightest  portion  of  Latimer's  times.  If 
things  like  these  were  to  be  seen  when  Latimer 
was  an  old  man,  what  must  have  been  seen 
when  he  was  young  ?  If  ignorance  like  this 
prevailed  under  Edward  VI.,  how  thick  must 
the  darkness  have  been  under  Henry  VIII. ! 

I  must  dwell  no  longer  on  the  subject  of 
Latimer's  times.  I  fear  that  I  shall  have  wea- 
ried you  already  with  a  dry  and  tedious  detail 
of  facts.    But  I  firmly  believe  that  a  kTlowl- 


26 


BISHOP  LATIMEB. 


edge  of  these  facts  is  absolutely  essential  to  a 
right  understanding  of  the  English  Reforma- 
tion, and  I,  therefore,  hope  they  will  not  prove 
useless. 

On  calm  consideration,  I  trust  you  will  agree 
with  me,  that  it  is  the  height  of  absurdity  to 
say,  as  some  do  now-a-days,  that  this  country 
has  been  a  loser  by  getting  rid  of  popery.  It 
is  really  astonishing  to  hear  the  nonsense  talked 
"about  merry  England  in  the  olden  times,  "the 
"  mediaeval  pietj^,"  the  "  ages  of  faith,"  and  the 
"  devout  habits  of  our  Catholic  forefathers." 

"Walter  Scott's  beautiful  writings,  and  Pu- 
gin's  beautiful  architectural  designs,  have  lent 
a  false  glare  to  Romanism  in  England,  and  in- 
duced many  to  doubt  whether  our  Reforma- 
tion really  was  a  gain.  I  do  trust  that  young 
London  will  not  be  so  young  as  to  listen  to 
such  delusive  theories.  Doubt  not  for  a  mo- 
ment, that  the  state  of  English  society,  which 
Scott  has  sometimes  made  so  beautiful  by  his 
pen,  and  Pugin  by  his  pencil,  is  a  far  more 
beautiful  thing  in  poems  and  pictures  than  it 
ever  was  in  honest  reality.    Depend  upon  it, 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


29 


tliat  "  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view." 
East  satisfied,  that  Netley,  and  Glastonbury, 
and  Tintern,  and  Bury,  and  Fountains,  and 
Melrose,  and  Bolton  Abbeys,  are  probably 
more  useful  now  in  ruins  than  ever  they  were 
in  Henry  the  Seventh's  days.  Never  forget 
what  we  have  gained  by  the  Eeformation ; — ■ 
we  have  gained  light,  knowledge,  morality, 
and  religious  liberty.  Never  forget  the  fruits 
which  grew  on  the  tree  of  Popery  when  last  it 
flourished  in  England.  These  fruits  were  ig- 
norance, superstition,  immorality,  and  priestly 
tyranny.  God  was  angered.  Souls  were  lost, 
and  the  devil  was  pleased. 

Again,  I  trust  you  will  feel  with  me  to-night 
that  it  is  most  unfair  to  suppose  that  the  acts 
and  writings  of  the  English  Eeformers  under 
Henry  VIII.  are  any  real  criterion  of  their 
matured  opinions.  It  is  as  unfair  as  it  would 
be  to  measure  the  character  of  a  grown  up 
man  by  his  sayings  and  doings  when  he  was 
a  child.  Eemember  that  the  Eeformers  un- 
der Henry  VIIL  were  in  a  state  of  spiritual 
childhood.  They  saw  many  points  in  religion 
3* 


30 


BISHOP  LATIMER: 


througli  a  glass  darkly.  It  was  not  till  tlie 
reign  of  Edward  VI.  that  they  put  awa}'  child- 
ish things.  Beware,  therefore,  lest  any  man 
ever  deceive  you  by  artfully  chosen  quotations 
drawn  from  works  published  in  the  beginning 
of  the  English  Keformation.  Judge  the  Ee- 
formers,  if  you  will,  by  their  writings  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  VI.,  but  not  by  their  writings 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 

Lastly,  I  trust  that  you  will  agree  with  me 
to-night,  that  it  is  most  unreasonable  to  decry 
the  early  English  Eeformers  as  men  who  did 
not  go  far  enough.  Such  charges  are  easily 
made,  but  those  who  make  them  seldom  con- 
sider the  enormous  obstacles  the  Reformers 
had  to  surmount,  and  the  enormous  evils  they 
had  to  remove.  It  is  nonsense  to  suppose 
they  had  nothing  more  to  do  than  to  pare  the 
moss  off  an  old  building,  and  whitewash  it 
afresh.  They  had  to  take  down  an  old  de- 
cayed house,  and  rebuild  it  from  the  very 
ground.  It  is  nonsense  to  talk  as  if  they  had 
a  smooth  fair  wind,  and  a  clear  course. 
On  the  contrary,  they  had  to  pilot  the  ship  of 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


31 


true  religion  througli  a  narrow  and  difficult 
strait,  against  current,  wind,  and  tide.  Put 
all  their  difficulties  together — the  arbitrary, 
profligate  character  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  the 
tender  years  of  Edward  VI. — the  general  ig- 
norance of  the  population — the  bitter  enmity 
of  dispossessed  "monks  and  friars — the  open 
opposition  of  many  of  the  bishops,  and  the  se- 
cret indifference  of  a  vast  proportion  of  the 
clergy — put  all  these  things  together,  and 
weigh  them  well,  and  then  I  think  you  will 
not  lightly  regard  the  work  that  the  early  Re- 
formers did.  For  my  own  part,  so  far  from 
wondering  that  they  did  so  little,  I  wonder 
rather  that  they  did  so  much.  I  marvel  at 
their  firmness.  I  am  surprised  at  their  suc- 
cess. I  see  immense  results  produced  by 
comparatively  weak  instruments,  and  I  can 
only  account  for  it  by  saying,  that  "  God  was 
with  them  of  a  truth." 

n.  The  second  part  of  this  evening's  lec- 
ture, to  which  I  shall  next  invite  your  atten- 
tion, is  the  story  of  Bishop  Latimer's  life. 


32 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


Hugh  Latimer  was  born  about  the  year 
1485,  at  Tliurcaston,  near  Mount  Sorrel,  in 
tlie  county  of  Leicester.  He  has  left  such  a 
graphic  account  of  his  father  and  family  in 
one  of  his  sermons,  preached  before  Edward 
VI.,  that  I  must  in  justice  give  it  to  you  in  his 
own  words.  He  says,  "  my  father  was  a  yeo- 
man, and  had  no  lands  of  his  own.  He  had 
only  a  farm  of  three  or  four  pounds  a  year  at 
the  uttermost,  and  hereupon  he  tilled  so  much 
as  kept  half  a  dozen  men.  He  had  walk  for 
one  hundred  sheep,  and  my  mother  milked 
thirty  kine.  He  was  able,  and  did  bring  the 
king  a  harness  with  himself  and  his  horse, 
when  he  came  to  the  place  where  he  should  re* 
ceive  the  king's  wages.  I  can  remember  that 
I  buckled  his  harness  when  he  went  to  Black- 
heath  field.  He  kept  me  to  school,  or  else  I 
had  not  been  able  to  have  preached  before  the 
king's  majesty  now.  He  married  my  sisters 
with  five  pounds  apiece,  and  brought  them  up 
in  godliness  and  the  fear  of  God.  He  kept 
hospitality  for  his  poor  neighbors,  and  some 
alms  he  gave  to  the  poor."    (Works,  i.  101, 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


33 


Parker's  Soc.  edition.)  Such  is  the  good  bish- 
op's homely  account  of  his  own  family.  It  is 
only  fair  to  observe,  that  Latimer  is  one 
among  the  thousand  examples  on  record  that 
England,  with  all  its  faults,  is  a  country  where 
a  man  may  begin  very  low,  and  yet  live  to 
rise  very  high. 

Latimer  was  sent  to  Cambridge  at  the  age 
of  fourteen,  and  in  1509  was  elected  a  fellow 
of  Clare  HalL  We  know  very  little  of  his 
early  history,  except  the  remarkable  fact 
which  he  himself  has  told  us,  that  up  to  the 
age  of  thirty  he  was  a  most  violent  and  bigot- 
ed papist.  Just  as  St.  Paul  was  not  ashamed 
to  tell  men  that  at  one  time  he  was  a  blas- 
phemer, and  a  persecutor,  and  injurious,  so 
the  old  Protestant  bishop  used  often  to  tell 
how  he,  too,  had  once  been  the  slave  of  Eome. 
He  says,  in  one  of  his  sermons,  "  I  was  as  ob- 
stinate a  papist  as  any  was  in  England,  inso- 
much that  when  I  should  be  made  a  bachelor 
of  divinity,  my  whole  oration  went  against 
Philip  Melancthon  and  his  opinions."  (Works, 
L  334.)    He  says,  in  another  sermon,  "  All  the 


34 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


papists  think  themselves  to  be  saved  bj  the 
law,  and  I  myself  was  of  that  dangerous,  peril- 
ous, and  damnable  opinion  till  I  was  thirty 
years  of  age.  So  long  had  I  walked  in  dark- 
ness and  the  shadow  of  death."  (i.  137.)  He 
says,  in  a  letter  to  Sir  Edward  Baynton,  "  I 
have  thought,  in  times  past,  that  if  I  had  been 
a  friar,  and  in  a  cowl,  I  could  not  have  been 
damned,  nor  afraid  of  death;  and  by  reason 
of  the  same,  I  have  been  minded  many  times 
to  have  been  a  friar,  namely,  when  I  was  sore 
sick,  or  diseased.  Now  I  abhor  my  supersti- 
tious foolishness."    (i.  332.) 

Latimer's  testimony  about  himself  is  con- 
firmed by  others.  It  is  recorded  that  he  used 
to  think  so  ill  of  the  Reformers,  that  he  de- 
clared the  last  times,  the  Day  of  Judgment, 
and  the  end  of  the  world  must  be  approach- 
ing. "  Impiety,"  he  said,  "  was  gaining 
ground  apace,  and  what  lengths  might  not 
men  be  expected  to  run,  when  they  began  to 
question  even  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope." 
Becon  mentions,  that  when  Stafford,  the  di- 
vinity lecturer,  delivered  lectures  on  the  Bible, 


\ 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


35 


Latimer  was  sure  to  be  present,  in  order  to 
frighten  and  drive  away  the  scholars.  In  fact, 
his  zeal  for  popery  was  so  notorious,  that  he 
"was  elected  to  the  office  of  cross- bearer  in  the 
religious  processions  of  the  University,  and  dis- 
charged the  duty  with  becoming  solemnity  for 
seven  years.  Such  was  the  clay  of  which 
God  formed  a  precious  vessel  meet  for  his 
work.  Such  were  the  first  beginnings  of  one 
of  the  best  and  most  useful  of  the  English 
Eeformers. 

The  instrument  which  God  used  in  order  to 
bring  this  furious  papist  to  a  knowledge  of 
Christ's  truth,  was  a  student  named  Bilney. 
BLlney  was  a  cotemporary  of  Latimer's  at 
Cambridge,  who  had  for  some  time  embraced 
the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation.  He  per- 
ceived that  Latimer  was  a  sincere  and  honest 
man,  and  kindly  thought  it  possible  that  his  zeal 
for  popery  might  arise  from  a  lack  of  knowl- 
edge. He  therefore  went  boldly  to  him  after  his 
public  onslaught  on  Melancthon,  and  humbly 
asked  to  be  allowed  to  make  a  private  confes- 
sion of  his  own  feith.    The  success  of  this 


36 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


courageous  step  was  complete.  Old  Latimer 
tells  us,  "  I  learned  more  by  his  confession 
than  before  in  many  years.  From  that  time 
forward  I  began  to  smell  the  word  of  God,  and 
forsook  the  school-doctors,  and  such  fooler- 
ies." (i.  335.)  Bilney's  conduct  on  this  occa- 
sion seems  to  have  been  most  praiseworthy.  It 
ought  to  encourage  every  one  to  try  to  do 
good  to  his  neighbor.  It  is  a  shining  proof  of 
the  truth  of  the  proverb,  "  A  word  spoken  in 
season,  bow  good  is  it." 

Hugh  Latimer  was  not  a  man  to  do  any 
thing  by  halves.  As  soon  as  he  ceased  to  be 
a  zealous  Papist,  he  began  at  once  to  be  a 
zealoxis  Protestant,  and  gave  himself  np,  body, 
soul,  and  mind,  to  the  work  of  doing  good. 
He  visited,  in  Bilney's  company,  the  sick  and 
prisoners.  He  commenced  preaching  in  the 
university  pulpits,  in  a  style  hitherto  unknown 
in  Cambridge,  and  soon  became  famous  as  one 
of  the  most  striking  and  powerftil  preachers  of 
the  day.  He  stirred  up  hundreds  of  his  hear- 
ers to  search  the  Scriptures,  and  inquire  after 
the  way  of  salvation.    Becon,  afterward  chap- 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


37 


lain  to  Cranmer,  and  Bradford,  afterward 
chaplain  to  Ridley,  both  traced  their  conver- 
sion to  his  sermons.  Becon  has  left  us  a 
remarkable  description  of  the  effects  of  his 
preaching.  He  says,  "  None,  except  the  stifF- 
necked  and  uncircumcised  in  heart,  went  away 
from  it  without  being  affected  with  high  detes- 
tation of  sin,  and  moved  unto  all  godliness 
and  virtue."  (ii.  224.  Parker's  Society  Edition.) 

The  consequences  of  this  faithful  discharge 
of  ministerial  duty  were  just  what  all  experi- 
ence might  lead  us  to  expect.  There  arose 
against  Latimer  a  storm  of  persecution. 
Swarms  of  friars  and  doctors  who  had  admired 
him  when  he  carried  the  cross  as  a  papist,  rose 
up  against  him  in  a  body,  when  he  preached 
the  cross  hke  St.  Paul.  The  Bishop  of  Ely 
forbade  his  preaching  any  more  in  the  univer- 
sity pulpits ;  and  had  he  not  obtained  permis- 
sion from  Dr.  Barnes  to  preach  in  the  church 
of  the  Augustine  Friars,  which  was  exempt 
from  Episcopal  jurisdiction,  he  might  have 
been  silenced  altogether.  But  the  malice  of 
his  enemies  did  not  stop  here.  Complaints 
4 


38 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


were  laid  against  him  before  Cardinal  "Wolsey, 
and  lie  liad  more  than  once  to  appear  before 
him,  and  Tonstall,  Bishop  of  London,  on 
charges  of  heresy.  Indeed,  when  the  circum- 
stances of  the  times  are  considered,  it  is  won- 
derful that  Latimer  did  not  at  this  period  of 
his  hfe  share  BUney's  fate,  and  suffer  death  at 
the  stake. 

But  the  Lord,  in  whose  hands  our  times  are, 
had  more  work  for  Latimer  to  do,  and  raised 
up  for  him  unexpected  friends  in  higher  quar- 
ters. His  decided  opinions  in  favor  of  Henry 
the  Eighth's  divorce  from  Catherine  of  Arra- 
gon,  brought  him  into  communication  with 
Dr.  Butts,  the  king's  physician,  and  ultimately 
secured  him  the  favor  and  patronage  of  the 
king  himself.  In  the  year  1530,  he  was  made 
one  of  the  royal  chaplains,  and  preached 
before  the  king  several  times.  In  the  year 
1531,  the  royal  favor  procured  for  him  an  ap- 
pointment to  the  living  of  West  Kington,  near 
Chippenham,  in  Wiltshire  :  and,  in  spite  of  his 
friend  Dr.  Butts'  remonstrances,  he  at  once  left 
court,  and  went  to  reside  upon  his  cure. 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


89 


At  West  Kington,  Latimer  was  just  the 
same  man  that  lie  had  been  latterly  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  found  the  devil  just  as  busy  an 
adversary  in  Wiltshire,  as  he  had  found  him 
in  the  University.  In  pastoral  labors  he  was 
abundant.  In  preaching  he  was  instant  in 
season  and  out  of  season,  both  within  his  par- 
ish and  without.  This  he  had  full  authority 
to  do,  by  virtue  of  a  general  license  from  the 
University  of  Cambridge.  But  the  more  he 
did,  the  more  angry  the  idle  popish  clergy 
round  West  Kington  became,  and  the  more 
they  labored  to  stop  his  proceedings.  So  true 
is  it  that  human  nature  is  the  same  in  all  ages. 
There  is  generally  a  dog-in-the-manger  spirit 
about  a  graceless  minister.  He  neither  does 
good  himself,  nor  likes  any  one  else  to  do  it 
for  him.  This  was  the  case  with  the  Phari- 
sees :  they  "  took  awaj  the  key  of  knowledge : 
they  entered  not  in  themselves,  and  them  that 
were  entering  in  they  hindered."  And  as  it 
was  in  the  days  of  the  Pharisees,  so  it  was  in 
the  days  of  Latimer, 

On  one  occasion,  the  mayor  and  magistrates 


40  BISHOP  LATIMER. 


of  Bristol,  who  were  very  friendly  to  him,  had 
appointed  him  to  preach  before  them  on  East- 
er-day. Public  notice  had  been  given,  and 
every  body  was  looking  forward  to  the  sermon 
with  pleasure,  for  Latimer  was  very  popular 
in  Bristol.  Suddenly  there  came  oat  an  order 
from  the  bishop,  forbidding  any  one  to  preach 
in  Bristol  without  his  license.  The  clergy  of 
the  place  waited  on  Latimer,  and  informed 
him  of  the  bishop's  order,  and  then,  knowing 
well  that  he  had  no  such  license,  told  him 
"  that  they  were  extremely  sorry  they  were  de- 
prived of  the  pleasure  of  hearing  an  excellent 
discourse  from  him."  Their  compliments  and 
crocodile  regrets  were  unfortunately,  ill-timed. 
Latimer  had  heard  the  whole  history  of  the 
affair.  And  he  knew  well  that  these  smooth- 
tongued gentlemen  were  the  very  persons  who 
had  written  to  the  bishop  in  order  to  prevent 
his  preaching. 

For  four  years,  while  vicar  of  West  King- 
ton, the  good  man  was  subjected  to  a  constant 
succession  of  petty  worrying  attacks  and  at- 
tempts to  stop  him  from  doing  good.    He  was 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


41 


cited  to  London,  and  brought  before  Arch- 
bishop Warham,  and  detained  many  months 
from  home  He  was  convened  before  convo- 
cation, and  excommunicated  and  imprisoned 
for  a  time.  But  the  protecting  care  of  God 
seems  to  have  been  always  round  him.  His 
enemies  appear  to  have  been  marvelously  re- 
strained from  carrying  their  malice  to  extrem- 
ities. At  length,  in  1535,  the  king  put  a  sud- 
den stop  to  their  persecution  by  making  him 
Bishop  of  Worcester.  That  such  a  man  should 
make  such  an  appointment,  is  certainly  very 
wonderful.  Some  have  attributed  it  to  the 
influence  of  Lord  Cromwell ;  some  to  that  of 
Queen  Anne  Boleyn;  some  to  that  of  Dr. 
Butts;  some  to  that  of  Cranmer,  who  was  al- 
ways Latimer's  fast  friend.  Such  speculations 
are,  to  say  the  best,  useless.  "The  king's 
heart  is  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord :  as  the  rivers 
of  the  south,  he  turneth  it  withersoever  he 
wHl."  When  God  intends  to  give  a  good 
man  a  high  office,  he  can  always  raise  up  a 
Darius  to  convey  it  to  him. 

The  history  of  Latimer's  episcopate  is  short 
4* 


42 


BISHOP  LATIMEB. 


and  simple,  for  it  only  lasted  four  years.  He 
was  the  same  man  in  a  bishop's  palace,  tliat 
he  had  been  in  a  country  parsonage,  or  a  Cam- 
bridge pulpit.  Promotion  did  not  spoil  liim. 
The  miter  did  not  prove  an  extinguisher  to 
his  zeal  for  the  Gospel.  He  was  always  faith- 
ful— always  simple-minded — always  about  his 
Father's  business — always  laboring  to  do  good 
to  souls.  Foxe,  the  historian,  speaks  highly 
of  "  his  pains,  study,  readiness,  and  continual 
carefulness  in  teaching,  preaching,  exhorting, 
visiting,  correcting,  and  reforming,  either  as 
his  ability  could  serve,  or  the  times  would 
bear."  But  he  adds,  "the  days  then  were  so 
dangerous  and  variable  that  he  could  not  in 
all  things  do  what  he  would.  Yet  what  he 
might  do,  that  he  performed  to  the  uttermost 
of  his  strength,  so  that,  although  he  could  not 
utterly  extinguish  all  the  sparkling  relics  of 
old  superstition,  yet  he  so  wrought  that  though 
they  could  not  be  taken  away,  yet  they  should 
be  used  with  as  little  hurt,  and  as  much  profit 
as  might  be." 
In  1536,  we  find  Bishop  Latimer  appointed 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


43 


by  Archbishop  Cranmer  to  preach  before  the 
convocation  of  the  clergy.  No  doubt  this  ap- 
pointment was  made  advisedly.  Cranmer 
knew  well  that  Latimer  was  just  the  man  for 
the  occasion.  The  sermons  he  preached  are 
still  extant,  and  fally  justify  the  archbishop's 
choice.  Two  more  faithful  and  conscience- 
stirring  discourses  were  probably  never  deliv- 
ered to  a  body  of  ordained  men.  They  will 
repay  an  attentive  perusal.  "  Good  brethren 
and  fathers,"  he  says  in  one  place,  "  seeing  we 
are  here  assembled  for  the  love  of  God,  let  us 
do  something  whereby  we  may  be  known  to 
be  the  children  of  light.  Let  us  do  somewhat, 
lest  we,  which  hitherto  have  been  judged  chil- 
dren of  the  world,  prove  even  still  to  be  so. 
All  men  call  us  prelates ;  then,  seeing  we  be 
in  council,  let  us  so  order  ourselves  that  we  be 
prelates  in  honor  and  dignity,  that  we  may  be 
prelates  in  holiness,  benevolence,  diligence, 
and  sincerity." 

"  Lift  up  your  heads,  brethren,  and  look 
about  with  your  eyes,  and  spy  what  things  are 
to  be  reformed  in  the  Church  of  England.  Is 


44 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


it  SO  liard,  so  great  a  matter,  for  you  to  see 
many  abuses  in  the  clergy,  .and  many  in  the 
laity?"  He  then  mentions  several  glaring 
abuses  by  name — the  state  of  the  Court  of 
Arches  and  the  Bishop's  Consistories — the 
number  of  superstitious  ceremonies  and  holi- 
days— the  worship  of  images,  and  visiting  of 
relics  and  saints — the  lying  miracles  and  the 
sale  of  masses — and  calls  upon  them  to  con- 
sider and  amend  them.  He  winds  up  all  by  a 
solemn  warning  of  the  consequences  of  bishops 
neglecting  notorious  abuses ;  "  God  will  come," 
he  says,  "  God  will  come ;  he  will  not  tarry 
long  away.  He  will  come  upon  such  a  day 
as  we  nothing  look  for  him,  and  at  such  an 
hour  as  we  know  not.  He  will  come  and  cut 
us  in  pieces.  He  will  reward  us  as  he  doth 
the  hypocrites.  He  will  set  us  where  wading 
a  shall  be,  my  brethren — where  gnashing  of 
teeth  shall  be,  my  brethren.  These  be  the 
delicate  dishes  prepared  for  the  world's  well- 
beloved  children.  These  be  the  wafers  and 
junkets  provided  for  worldly  prelates,  waiUng 
and  gnashing  of  teeth.    Ye  see,  brethren, 


BISHOP  LATIMER, 


45 


what  sorrow  and  punishment  is  provided  for 
you  if  ye  be  worldlings.  If  you  will  not  then 
be  vexed,  be  not  the  children  of  the  world, 
j  If  ye  will  not  be  the  children  of  the  world,  be 
I  not  stricken  with  the  love  of  worldly  things ; 
lean  not  upon  them.  If  ye  will  not  die  eter- 
nally, live  not  worldly.  Come,  go  to;  leave 
the  love  of  your  profit ;  study  for  the  glory 
and  profit  of  Christ;  seek  in  your  consulta- 
tions, such  things  as  pertain  to  Christ,  and 
bring  forth  at  last  somewhat  that  may  please 
Christ.  Feed  ye  tenderly  with  all  diligence 
the  flock  of  Christ.  Preach  truly  the  Word 
of  God.  Love  the  light,  walk  in  the  light, 
and  so  be  ye  the  children  of  light  while  ye  are 
in  this  world,  that  ye  may  shine  in  the  world 
to  come  bright  as  the  stars,  with  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost."  (Works,  vol.  i.  p.  60.) 
Such  was  a  sermon  before  convocation  by  • 
Latimer. 

In  1537,  we  find  Bishop  Latimer  placed  on 
the  Commission  of  Divines,  for  the  publication 
of  a  book  to  set  forth  the  truth  of  religion,  the 
result  of  which  commission  was  "the  institu- 

I 


46 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


tion  of  a  Cliristian  man."  The  same  year  we 
find  him  putting  forth  some  injunctions  to  the 
prior  of  Worcester  convent,  a  monastic  house 
not  yet  dissolved,  in  which,  among  other 
things,  he  commands  the  prior  to  have  a 
whole  Bible,  in  English,  chained  in  the  church. 
He  orders  every  member  of  the  convent  to  get 
himself  an  English  New  Testament ;  he  directs 
a  lecture  of  Scripture  to  be  read  in  the  con- 
vent every  day,  and  Scripture  to  be  read  at 
dinner  and  supper.  Shortly  afterward,  he 
published  injunctions  to  the  clergy  of  his  dio- 
cese, in  which  he  commands  every  one  of 
them  to  provide  himself  with  a  whole  Bible, 
or  at  any  rate,  with  a  New  Testament,  and  every 
day  to  read  over  and  study  one  chapter,  at  the 
least.  He  also  forbids  them  to  set  aside 
preaching  for  any  manner  of  observance,  cere- 
monies, or  processions,  and  enjoins  them  to 
instruct  the  children  in  their  respective  par- 
ishes. All  these  little  facts  are  deeply  in- 
structive. They  show  us  what  an  Augaean 
stable  an  English  diocese  was  in  Henry  the 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


47 


Eightli's  day,  and  what  enormous  difficulties  a 
reforming  bishop  had  to  overcome. 

In  1538,  we  find  Latimer  pleading  with 
Lord  Cromwell,  that  Great  Malvern  Abbey 
might  not  be  entirely  suppressed.  He  sug- 
gests that  it  should  be  kept  up,  "not  for 
monkery,"  which  he  says,  "  God  forbid,"  but 
"  to  maintain  teaching,  preaching,  study,  and 
prayer ;"  and  he  asks  whether  it  would  not  be 
good  policy  to  have  two  or  three  of  the  old 
monastic  houses  in  every  county  set  apart  for 
such  purposes.  This  was  a  very  wise  design, 
and  shows  great  foresight  of  the  country's 
wants.  Had  it  been  carried  into  effect, 
Durham,  St.  Bees,  Lampeter,  and  King's  Col- 
lege would  have  been  unnecessary.  The  ra- 
pacity of  Henry  the  Eighth's  courtiers,  who 
had  an  amazing  appetite  for  the  property  of 
the  suppressed  abbeys,  made  the  suggestion 
useless. 

Li  1539,  Bishop  Latimer's  episcopate  was 
brought  to  an  end  by  the  enactment  of  the  six 
Articles  already  referred  to,  in  which  some  of 
the  leading  tenets  of  Romanism  were  authori- 


48 


BISHOP  LATIMEE. 


tatively  maintained.  He  strenuously  with- 
stood the  passing  of  this  Act,  in  opposition  to 
the  king  and  the  parliament,  and  the  result 
was  that  he  was  compelled  to  resign  his  bish- 
opric. It  is  related,  that  on  the  day  when 
this  happened,  when  he  came  back  from  the 
House  of  Lords  to  his  lodgings,  he  threw  off 
his  robes,  and  leaping  up,  declared  to  those 
who  stood  about  him,  that  he  found  himself 
lighter  than  he  had  been  for  some  time. 

The  next  eight  years  of  Latimer's  life  appear 
to  have  passed  away  in  forced  silence,  and  in 
retirement.  We  read  little  of  any  thing  that 
he  did.  We  do  not  exactly  know  where  he 
spent  his  time,  and  whether  he  returned  to  his 
old  living  at  West  Kington  or  not.  The 
probability  is,  that  he  was  regarded  as  a  dan- 
gerous and  suspected  man,  and  had  much 
difl&culty  in  preserving  his  life.  The  only 
certain  fact  we  know  is,  that  he  was  at  length 
committed  to  prison  as  a  heretic,  and  spent 
the  last  year  of  Henry  the  Eighth's  reign  in 
confinement  in  the  Tower. 

When  Edward  VI.  came  to  the  throne  in 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


49 


1547,  Latimer  was  at  once  released  from  pris- 
on, and  treated  witli  every  mark  of  respect. 
His  old  bishopric  of  Worcester  was  offered  to 
him,  and  the  House  of  Commons  presented  an 
address  to  the  Protector  Somerset,  earnestly 
requesting  that  he  might  be  re-appointed. 
Old  age,  and  increasing  infirmities  made  Lat- 
imer decline  the  proffered  dignity,  and  he 
spent  the  next  six  years  of  his  life  without 
any  ofiice,  but  certainly  not  as  an  idle  man. 
His  chief  residence,  during  these  six  years, 
was  with  his  old  friend  and  ally,  Archbishop 
Cranmer,  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  Lam- 
beth Palace.  While  here,  he  took  an  active 
part  in  all  the  measures  adopted  for  carrying 
forward  the  Protestant  Keformation.  He  as- 
sisted Cranmer  in  composing  the  fii'st  book  of 
Homilies,  and  was  also  one  of  the  divines  ap- 
pointed to  reform  the  Ecclesiastical  Law,  a 
work  which  was  never  completed.  All  tiiis 
time  he  generally  preached  twice  every  Sun 
day.  In  the  former  part  of  Edward  the 
Sixth's  reign  he  preached  constantly  before 
the  king.    In  the  latter  part,  he  went  to  and 


60 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


fro  in  the  midland  counties  of  England, 
preaching  wherever  his  services  seemed  to  be 
most  wanted,  and  especially  in  Lincolnshire. 
Thig  was  perhaps  the  most  useful  period  of 
his  life.  No  one  of  the  reformers,  probably, 
sowed  the  seeds  of  sound  Protestant  doctrine 
so  widely  and  effectually  among  the  middle 
classes,  as  Latimer.  The  late  Mr.  Southey 
bears  testimony  to  this :  he  says,  "  Latimer, 
more  than  any  other  man,  promoted  the  Eef- 
ormation  by  his  preaching." 

The  untimely  death  of  Edward  VL,  and  the 
accession  of  Queen  Mary  to  the  throne  in 
1553,  put  an  end  to  Latimer's  active  exertions 
on  behalf  of  the  Gospel.  Henceforward  he 
was  called  to  glorify  Christ  by  suffering,  and 
not  by  doing.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  Mary's 
government  was  the  apprehension  of  the  lead- 
ing English  reformers,  and  Latimer  was  among 
the  first  for  whom  a  warrant  was  issued.  The 
queen's  messenger  found  him  doing  his  Mas- 
ter's work,  as  a  preacher  in  Warwickshire,  but 
quite  prepared  for  prison.  He  had  received 
notice  of  what  was  coming  six  hours  before 


BISHOP  LATIMEK. 


51 


the  messenger  arrived,  from  a  good  man 
named  Careless,  and  might  easily  have  escaped. 
But  he  reftised  to  avail  himself  of  the  oppor- 
tunity. He  said,  "I  go  as  willingly  to  Lon- 
don at  this  present,  being  called  by  my  prince 
to  render  a  reckoning  of  my  doctrine,  as  ever 
I  went  to  any  place  in  the  world.  And  I  do 
not  doubt  but  that  God,  as  he  hath  made  me 
worthy  to  preach  his  word  to  two  excellent 
princes,  so  he  will  enable  me  to  witness  the 
same  unto  the  third."  In  this  spirit  he  rode 
cheerfully  up  to  London,  and  said,  as  he 
passed  through  Smithfield,  where  heretics  were 
generally  burned,  "Smithfield  has  long  groaned 
for  me." 

Latimer  was  at  once  committed  to  the  Tow- 
er, in  company  with  Cranmer,  Eidley,  and 
Bradford,  and  for  want  of  room,  all  the  four 
were  confined  in  one  chamber.  There  these 
four  martyrs,  to  use  old  Latimer's  words,  "did 
together  read  over  the  New  Testament  with 
great  deliberation,  and  painful  study,"  and 
unanimously  agreed  that  transubstantiation 
was  not  to  be  found  in  it.    From  the  Tower, 


52 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


the  three  bishops  were  removed  to  Oxford,  in 
1554,  and  there,  in  1555,  Latimer  and  Eidley 
were  burned  alive  at  the  stake,  as  obstinate 
heretics. 

Latimer's  conduct  in  prison  was  answerable 
to  his  previous  life.  For  two  long  years  he 
never  lost  his  spirits,  and  his  faith  and  patience 
never  failed  him.  Much  of  his  time  was 
spent  in  reading  the  Bible.  He  says  himself, 
"  I  read  the  New  Testament  over  seven  times 
wliile  I  was  in  prison."  Much  of  his  time 
was  spent  in  prayer  :  Augustine  Bernher,  his 
faithful  servant,  tells  us  that  he  often  contin- 
ued kneeling  so  long  that  he  was  not  able  to 
get  up  from  his  knees  without  help.  Three 
things  he  used  especially  to  mention  in  his 
prayers  at  this  time.  One  was,  that  as  God 
had  appointed  him  to  be  a  preacher  and  pro- 
fessor of  his  word,  so  he  would  give  him 
grace  to  stand  to  His  doctrine  till  his  death. 
Another  was,  that  God  would  of  His  mercy 
restore  the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  the  realm  once 
again:  he  often  repeated  these  two  words, 
"  once  again,"   The  third  was,  that  God  would 


BISHOP  LATIMEE. 


53 


preserve  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  and  make  her 
a  comfort  to  England.  It  is  a  striking  fact 
that  all  these  three  prayers  were  fully  granted. 

Latimer's  conduct  at  his  various  trials  and 
examinations  before  his  Popish  persecutors 
was  in  some  respects  wiser  and  better  than 
that  of  the  other  martyrs.  He  knew  well 
enough  that  his  death  was  determined  on,  and 
he  was  quite  right.  Gardiner,  the  Popish 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  had  said  openly,  that 
"  he  would  have  the  ax  laid  at  the  root  of 
the  tree :  the  bishops  and  most  powerful 
preachers  ought  certainly  to  die."  Bonner, 
the  Popish  Bishop  of  London  had  said,  "  God 
do  so  to  Bonner,  and  more  also,  if  one  of  the 
heretics  escape  me."  Acting  on  this  impres- 
sion, Latimer  told  Ridley  before  the  trial,  that 
he  should  say  little.  "  They  talk  of  free  dis- 
putation," said  he,  "but  their  argument  will  be 
as  it  was  with  their  forefathers,  '  We  have  a 
law,  and  by  our  law  he  ought  to  die.' "  Act- 
ing on  this  impression,  he  did  little  at  his  vari- 
ous trials  but  make  a  simple  profession  of  his 
faith.  He  refused  to  be  led  away  into  lengthy 
6* 


54 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


discussions  about  the  opinions  of  tlie  Fathers, 
like  Cranmer  and  Ridley.  He  told  his  judges 
plainly,  that  "  the  Fathers  might  be  deceived 
in  some  points,"  and  that  he  only  "believed 
them  when  they  said  true,  and  had  Scripture 
with  them  !"  A  wiser  and  truer  remark  about 
the  Fathers  was  probably  never  made. 

The  death  of  old  Latimer  is  so  beautifully 
described  by  Foxe,  that  I  can  not  do  better 
than  give  you  the  account  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible in  his  words.  I  certainly  shall  not  try 
to  spoil  it  by  any  additions  of  my  own,  though 
want  of  time  will  oblige  me  to  abridge  it  con- 
siderably. 

"  The  place  appointed  for  the  execution 
(says  Foxe)  was  on  the  north  side  of  Oxford, 
in  the  ditch  over  against  Balliol  College.  For 
fear  of  any  tumult  that  might  arise  to  prevent 
their  burning.  Lord  Williams  and  the  house- 
holder of  the  city,  were  commanded  by  the 
Queen's  letter  to  be  assistant,  sufficiently  armed, 
and  when  all  things  were  in  readiness,  the 
prisoners  were  brought  forth  together,  on  the 
16th  of  October,  1555. 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


55 


"  Eidley  came  first,  in  a  furred  black  gown, 
such,  as  he  was  wont  to  wear  as  a  bishop. 
After  him  came  Latimer,  in  a  poor  Bristol 
fiieze  frock,  all  worn,  with  his  buttoned  cap 
and  a  handkerchief  over  his  head,  and.  a  long 
new  shroud,  hanging  over  his  hose,  down  to 
his  feet. 

"  Ridley,  looking  back,  saw  Latimer  coming 
after,  to  whom  he  said,  *  Oh !  are  ye  there  ?' 
'  Yea,'  said.  Master  Latimer,  '  as  fast  as  I  can 
follow.'  At  length  they  came  to  the  stake,  one 
after  the  other.  Ridley  first  entered  the  place, 
and  earnestly  holding  up  both  his  hands 
looked  toward,  heaven.  Shortly  after,  seeing 
Latimer,  he  ran  to  him,  embraced  and  kissed 
him,  saying,  '  Be  of  good  cheer,  brother,  for 
God  will  either  assuage  the  fury  of  the  flames, 
or  else  strengthen  us  to  abide  it.' 

"  With  that  he  went  to  the  stake,  kneeled 
down  by  it,  kissed  it,  and  prayed ;  and  behind 
him  Latimer  kneeled,  earnestly  calling  upon 
God.  After  they  arose,  one  talked  with  an- 
other a  little  while,  but  what  they  said,  Foxe 
could  not  learn  of  any  man. 


56 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


"  Then  were  tliey  compelled  to  listen  to  a 
sermon  preaclied  by  a  renegade  priest,  named 
Smith,  upon  the  text,  '  Though  I  give  my 
body  to  be  burned,  and  have  not  charity,  I  am 
nothing.'  They  attempted  to  answer  the  false 
statements  of  this  miserable  discourse,  but 
were  not  allowed.  Eidlej'  said,  '  Well  I  then 
I  commit  our  cause  to  Almighty  God,  who 
shall  impartially  judge  all.'  Latimer  added 
bis  own  verse,  '  Well !  there  is  nothing  hid, 
but  it  shall  be  made  manifest,'  and  said,  '  He 
could  answer  Smith  well  enough,  if  he  might 
be  sulfered.' 

"  They  were  commanded  after  this  to  make 
xeady  immediately,  and  obeyed  with  all  meek- 
ness. Eidley  gave  his  clothes,  and  such 
things  as  he  had  about  him  to  those  that  stood 
by,  and  happy  was  he  that  could  get  any  rag 
of  him.  Latimer  gave  nothing,  but  quietly 
suffered  his  keeper  to  pull  off  his  hose  and  his 
other  apparel,  which  was  very  simple.  And 
now,  being  stripped  to  his  shroud,  he  seemed 
as  comely  a  person  to  them  that  stood  by  as 
one  could  desire  to  see.    And  though  in  his 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


57 


clothes  he  appeared  a  withered,  crooked  old 
man,  he  now  stood  quite  upright. 

"  Then  the  smith  took  a  chain  of  iron,  and 
fastened  it  about  both  Ridley's  and  Latimer's 
middles  to  one  stake.  As  he  was  knocking  in 
a  staple,  Ridley  took  the  chain  in  his  hands, 
and  said  to  the  smith,  '  Good  fellow,  knock  it 
in  hard,  for  flesh  will  have  its  course.'  A  bag 
of  gunpowder  was  tied  about  the  neck  of  each. 
Faggots  were  piled  round  them,  and  the  horri- 
ble preparations  were  completed. 

"  Then  they  brought  a  faggot  kindled  with 
fire,  and  laid  it  down  at  Ridley's  feet.  To 
whom  Latimer  then  spake  in  this  manner, 
*  Be  of  good  comfort,  brother  Ridley,  and  play 
the  man ;  we  shall  this  day  light  such  a  candle, 
by  God's  grace,  in  England,  as  I  trust  never 
shall  be  put  out.' 

"  And  so  the  fire  being  kindled,  when  Rid- 
ley saw  the  fire  flaming  up  toward  him,  he 
cried  with  a  loud  voice,  '  Lord,  into  thy  hands 
I  commend  my  spirit ;  Lord,  receive  my  spir- 
it ;'  and  repeated  the  latter  part  often.  Lati- 
mer, crying  as  vehemently  on  the  other  side 


58 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


of  tlie  stake,  '  Father  of  heaven,  receive  my 
soul,'  received  the  flame  as  if  embracing  it. 
After  he  had  stroked  his  face  with  his  hands, 
and,  as  it  were,  bathed  them  a  little  in  the 
fire,  he  soon  died,  as  it  appeared,  with  very 
little  pain."  And  thus  much,  says  Foxe,  con- 
cerning the  end  of  this  old  blessed  servant  of 
God,  Bishop  Latimer,  for  whose  "laborious 
services,  fruitful  life,  and  constant  death,  the 
whole  realm  has  cause  to  give  great  thanks  to 
Almighty  God." 

And  now  it  is  high  time  for  me  to  turn  from 
the  subject  of  Latimer's  life.  I  have  given 
you  a  brief  sketch  of  his  history  from  his  birth 
to  his  death.  You  will  easily  believe  that  for 
want  of  time  I  have  left  many  things  untold. 

I  might  dwell  on  the  good  man's  preaching. 
Few,  probably,  have  ever  addressed  an  Eng- 
lish congregation  with  more  effect  than  he  did. 
No  doubt  his  sermons  now  extant,  would  not 
suit  modern  taste.  They  contain  many  quaint, 
odd,  and  coarse  things.  They  are  very  famil- 
iar, rambling,  and  discursive,  and  often  full  of 
gossiping  stories.    But,  after  all,  we  are  poor 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


59 


judges  in  these  days,  of  what  a  sermon  ougnt 
to  be.  A  modern  sermon  is  too  often  a  dull, 
tame,  pointless,  religious  essay,  full  of  meas- 
ured round  sentences,  Johnsonian  English, 
bald  platitudes,  timid  statements,  and  elabo- 
rately concocted  milk  and  water.  It  is  a 
leaden  sword,  without  either  point  or  edge,  a 
heavy  weapon,  and  little  likely  to  do  much 
execution.  But  if  a  combination  of  sound 
Gospel  doctrine,  plain  Saxon  language,  bold- 
ness, liveliness,  directness,  and  simplicity,  can 
make  a  preacher,  few,  I  suspect,  have  ever 
equaled  old  Latimer. 

I  might  tell  you  of  the  many  proofs  he  gave 
of  courage  and  faithfulness  as  a  minister.  He 
did  not  shrink  from  attacking  any  body's  sins, 
even  if  they  were  the  sins  of  a  king.  When 
Henry  YDI.  checked  the  diffusion  of  the 
Bible,  Latimer  wrote  him  a  plain-spoken  let- 
ter, long  before  he  was  a  bishop,  remonstrating 
with  him  on  his  conduct.  He  feared  God, 
and  nothing  else  did  he  fear.  "  Latimer,  Lat- 
imer," he  exclaimed,  at  the  beginning  of  one 
of  his  sermons,  "  Thou  art  going  to  speak  be- 


60 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


fore  the  liigli  and  miglity  King  Henry  VULL., 
■who  is  able,  if  he  think  fit,  to  take  thy  life 
away.  Be  careful  what  thou  say  est.  But, 
Latimer,  Latimer,  remember  also  thou  art 
about  to  speak  before  the  King  of  kings,  and 
Lord  of  lords.  Take  heed  that  thou  dost  not 
displease  him." 

I  might  speak  of  his  unworldliness.  He 
gave  up  a  rich  bishopric,  and  retired  into  pri- 
vate life,  for  conscience-sake,  without  a  mur- 
mur. He  refused  that  same  bishopric  again, 
because  he  felt  too  old  to  fulfill  its  duties,  when 
he  might  have  had  it  by  saying  "Yes."  I 
might  speak  of  his  genuine  kindliness  of  heart. 
He  was  always  the  friend  of  the  poor  and  dis- 
tressed. Much  of  his  time,  whUe  he  stayed  at 
Lambeth,  was  occupied  in  examining  into  the 
cases  of  people  who  applied  to  him  for  help. 
I  might  speak  of  his  diligence.  To  the  very 
end  of  his  life  he  used  to  rise  at  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  and  begin  reading  and  study. 
All  this,  and  much  more,  I  might  tell  you, 
•but  time  would  fail  if  I  entered  into  more 
.particulars. 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


61 


I  trust,  however,  I  have  given  you  facts 
enough  to  supply  you  Avith  some  faint  idea  of 
what  the  man  was.  I  trust  you.  are  ready  to 
agree  with  me,  that  he  was  one  of  the  best 
Ijishops  this  country  has  ever  had,  and  that  it 
would  have  been  well  for  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, if  more  of  her  bishops  had  been  like 
Bishop  Latimer,  and  fewer  like  Archbishop 
Laud. 

Do  not  forget,  as  you  think  over  the  history 
of  his  life,  that  he  is  a  glorious  instance  of 
the  miracles  which  the  grace  of  God  can  work. 
The  Spirit  can  take  a  fierce  papist,  you  see, 
and  make  him  a  faithful  Protestant.  Where 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  is,  nothing  is  impossible. 
Never  think  that  any  friend,  relation,  or  com- 
panion is  too  much  opposed  to  the  Gospel  to 
become  a  true  Christian.  Away  with  the 
idea !  There  are  no  hopeless  cases  under  the 
Gospel.  Eemember  Latimer,  and  never  de- 
spair. 

Do  not  forget,  as  you  think  over  Latimer's 
last  days,  that  he  is  a  glorious  proof  that  Jesus 
can  sustain  his  people  even  in  the  fire,  and 
6 


62 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


will  be  a  present  help  to  those  wlio  trust  Him 
in  their  time  of  need.  Tlaink  not  for  a  mo- 
ment that  any  thing  is  too  hard  to  be  borne, 
if  Grod  be  with  you.  Do  not  give  up  religion 
because  you  see  fiery  trials  in  your  way,  be- 
cause your  place  is  unfavorable,  and  circum- 
stances are  against  you.  Eemember  old  Lati- 
mer at  the  stake,  and  never  be  cast  down. 

III.  The  third  and  last  thing  which  I  pro- 
posed to  do  to-night,  was  to  give  you  a  brief 
account  of  some  of  Latimer's  opinions. 

I  ask  your  especial  attention  to  this  portion 
of  the  evening's  Lecture.  The  circumstances 
of  the  times  you  live  in,  invest  the  subject  with 
more  than  ordinary  importance. 

You  live  in  days  when  very  strange  state- 
ments are  made  in  some  quarters  as  to  the  true 
doctrines  of  the  Church  of  England.  You  live 
in  days,  when  semi-popish  views  about  the 
rule  of  faith — about  justification — about  re- 
generation —  about  the  sacraments  —  about 
preaching — are  urged  upon  the  attention  of 
Young  England,  and  when  the  advocates  and 


BISHOP  LATIMER, 


63 


teachers  of  these  views  are  coolly  arrogating 
to  themselves  the  credit  of  being  the  onlj 
sound  churchmen. 

It  is  to  no  purpose  that  those  who  reiDudiate 
these  semi-popish  views,  challenge  their  advo- 
cates to  prove  them  by  Scripture.  The  ready 
answer  is  at  once  given,  that,  whether  these 
views  are  scriptural  or  not,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  they  are  "  church  views."  It  is  to  no 
purpose  that  we  deny  these  views  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Articles,  Liturgy,  and  Homilies 
of  the  Church  of  England,  when  honestly  and 
consistently  interpreted.  We  are  quietly  told 
that  we  know  nothing  about  the  matter.  We 
are  stupid.  We  are  dense.  We  are  blind. 
We  are  ignorant.  We  do  not  understand 
plain  English.  They  are  the  true  men.  Their 
views  are  the  true  "  church  views,"  and  if  we 
disagree  with  them,  we  must  be  quite  wrong. 
In  short,  we  are  left  to  infer  that,  if  we  are 
honest  and  consistent,  we  ought  to  leave 
our  dear  old  church,  and  give  it  up  to  them. 
I  appeal  to  the  experience  of  many  here 
present.    You  know  well  I  am  describing 


64 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


things  whicli  are  going  on  in  every  part  of 
the  land. 

Now,  as  matters  have  come  to  this  pass,  let 
us  see  whether  we  can  not  throw  a  little  light 
on  the  subject  by  looking  back  three  hundred 
years.  Let  us  inquire  what  were  the  views  of 
the  men  who  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  are  notoriously  the 
fathers  of  the  Articles,  Homilies,  and  Liturgy. 
Let  us  put  old  Latimer  into  the  witness-box 
to-night,  and  see  what  his  opinions  were  upon 
the  points  in  dispute.  An  honored  member 
of  the  Church  of  England  at  the  period  when 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church  were  first  brought 
into  shape  and  form — a  near  and  dear  friend 
and  adviser  of  Archbishop  Cranmer — an  as- 
sistant in  the  composition  of  the  first  book  of 
Homilies — a  bishop  whose  orthodoxy  and 
soundness  were  never  called  in  question  for  a 
moment  by  his  cotemporaries — if  any  man 
knows  what  a  true  churchman  ought  to  hold, 
Bishop  Latimer  must  surely  be  that  man ; — if 
his  views  are  not  true  "church"  views,  I  know 
not  whose  are. 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


65 


Bear  witli  me,  tlien,  for  a  few  minutes,  while  I 
give  you  some  extracts  from  Latimer's  works. 
Bear  with  me  while  I  try  to  confirm  your  minds 
on  the  important  question  of  the  present  da}'-, 
"Who  is,  and  who  is  not,  a  true  Churchman  ? 

First  of  all.  What  did  Bishop  Latimer  think 
about  Scripture  ?  This  is  a  point  with  which 
the  very  existence  of  true  religion  is  bound 
up.  Some  churchmen  tell  us  now-a-days,  not- 
I  withstanding  the  Sixth  Article,  that  the  Bible 
alone  is  not  the  rule  of  faith,  and  is  not  able 
to  make  a  man  wise  unto  salvation.  No  !  it 
must  be  the  Bible  and  the  fathers,  or  the  Bible 
and  Catholic  tradition,  or  the  Bible  and 
the  Church — or  the  Bible  explained  by  the 
Prayer-book,  or  the  Bible  explained  by  an 
episcopally-ordained  man,  but  not  the  Bible 
alone.    Now  let  us  hear  Bishop  Latimer. 

He  says,  in  a  sermon  before  Edward  YL, 
"  I  will  tell  you  what  a  bishop  of  this  realm 
once  said  to  me.  He  sent  for  me,  and  mar- 
veled that  I  would  not  consent  to  such  tra- 
ditions as  were  set  out.  And  I  answered  him, 
that  I  would  be  ruled  by  God's  Book,  and 
6* 


66 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


rather  than  depart  one  jot  from  it,  I  would  be 
torn  by  wild  horses.  I  chanced  in  our  com- 
munication, to  name  the  Lord's  Supper.  Tush  ! 
saith  the  bishop,  What  do  you  call  the  Lord's 
Supper?  "What  new  term  is  this?  There 
stood  by  him  one  Dr.  Dubber.  He  dubbed 
him  by-and-by,  and  said  that  this  term  was 
seldom  read  in  the  doctors.  And  I  made  an- 
swer, That  I  would  rather  follow  Paul  in  using 
his  terms  than  them,  though  they  had  all  the 
doctors  on  their  side."    (Works,  i.  121.) 

He  says  again,  in  his  Conference  with  Rid- 
ley : — "  A  layman,  fearing  God,  is  much  more 
fit  to  understand  holy  Scripture,  than  any  ar- 
rogant or  proud  priest,  yea,  than  the  bishop 
himself,  be  he  ever  so  great  and  glistering  in 
his  pontificals.  But  what  is  to  be  said  of  the 
Fathers  ?  How  are  they  to  be  esteemed  ?  St. 
Augustine  answereth,  giving  his  rule,  that  we 
should  not  therefore  think  it  true  because  they 
say  so,  do  they  never  so  much  exceed  in  holi- 
ness and  learning  ;  but  if  they  be  able  to  prove 
their  saying  by  canonical  Scripture,  or  by 
good  probable  reasons ; — meaning  that  to  be  a 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


67 


probable  reason,  I  think,  whicb  doth  orderly 
follow  upon  a  right  collection  and  gathering 
out  of  the  holy  Scriptures. 

"  Let  the  papists  go  with  their  long  faith. 
Be  you  contented  with  the  short  faith  of  the 
saints,  which  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  Word  of 
God  written.  Adieu  to  all  popish  fantasies. 
Amen !  For  one  man,  having  the  Scripture, 
and  good  reason  for  him,  is  more  to  be  es- 
teemed himself  alone,  than  a  thousand  such  as 
they,  either  gathered  together,  or  succeeding 
one  another.  The  Fathers  have  both  herbs  and 
weeds,  and  papists  commonly  gather  the  weeds 
and  leave  the  herbs."  (Ridley's  Works,  p.  114. 
Parker's  Edition.) 

I  make  no  comment  on  these  passages,  they 
speak  for  themselves. 

In  the  next  place,  what  did  Bishop  Latimer 
think  sbovX  justification  by  faith?  This  is  the 
doctrine  which  Luther  truly  called  the  crite- 
rion of  a  standing  or  falling  church.  This  is 
the  doctrine  which,  in  spite  of  the  P]leventh 
Article  of  our  Church,  many  are  now  trying 
to  obscure,  by  mingling  up  with  it  baptism, 


68 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


the  Lord's  Supper,  our  own  works,  and  I 
know  not  what  besides.  Now  let  us  hear 
Bishop  Latimer. 

He  says,  in  a  sermon  preached  at  Grims- 
thorpe,  "  Christ  reputeth  all  those  for  just, 
holy,  and  acceptable  before  God,  which  believe 
in  him,  which  put  their  trust,  hope,  and  confi- 
dence in  him.  By  his  passion  which  he  suffered, 
he  merited,  that  as  many  as  believe  in  him  shall 
be  as  well  justified  by  him,  as  though  they 
had  never  done  any  sin,  and  as  though  they 
had  fulfilled  the  law  to  the  uttermost.  For  we 
without  him  are  under  the  curse  of  the  law. 
The  law  condemneth  us.  The  law  is  not  able 
to  help  us.  And  yet  the  imperfection  is  not 
in  the  law,  but  in  us.  The  law  itself  is  holy 
and  good,  but  we  are  not  able  to  keep  it,  and 
so  the  law  condemneth  us.  But  Clirist,  with 
his  death  hath  delivered  us  from  the  curse  of 
the  law.  He  hath  set  us  at  liberty,  and  prom- 
ised that  when  we  believe  in  him  we  shall  not 
perish,  the  law  shall  not  condemn  us.  There- 
fore, let  us  study  to  believe  in  Christ.  Let  us 
put  all  our  hope,  trust,  and  confidence  only  in 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


69 


him.  Let  us  patch  him  with  nothing,  for,  as 
I  told  you  before,  our  merits  are  not  able  to 
deserve  everlasting  life.  It  is  too  precious  a 
thing  to  be  merited  by  man.  It  is  his  doing 
only.  God  hath  given  him  to  us  to  be  our 
deliverer,  and  to  give  us  everlasting  life." 
(ii.  125.) 

He  says  again,  in  another  sermon,  "  Learn 
to  abhor  this  most  detestable  and  dangerous 
poison  of  the  papists,  which  go  about  to  thrust 
Christ  out  of  his  office.  Learn,  I  say,  to  leave 
all  papistry,  and  to  stick  only  to  the  "Word  of 
God,  which  teacheth  that  Christ  is  not  only  a 
judge,  but  a  justifier,  a  giver  of  salvation,  and 
a  taker  away  of  sin.  He  purchased  our  salva- 
tion through  his  painful  death,  and  we  receive 
the  same  through  believing  in  him,  as  St.  Paul 
\  teacheth  us,  saying,  freely  ye  are  justified 
through  faith.  In  these  words  of  St.  Paul,  all 
merits  and  estimation  of  works  are  excluded 
and  clean  taken  away.  For  if  it  were  for  our 
works'  sake,  then  it  were  not  freely,  but  St. 
Paul  saith  freely.  Whether  will  you  now  be- 
lieve, St.  Paul,  or  the  papists  ?"    (ii.  147.) 

i 


70 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


He  says  again,  in  another  sermon,  "  Christ 
only,  and  no  man  else,  merited  remission,  jus- 
tification, and  eternal  felicity,  for  as  many  as 
will  believe  the  same.  They  that  will  not  be- 
lieve it,  shall  not  have  it ;  for  it  is  no  more, 
but  believe  and  have."    (i.  421.) 

Once  more,  I  say  these  passages  require  no 
comment  of  mine.  They  speak  for  themselves. 

In  the  next  place,  what  did  Bishop  Latimer 
think  about  regeneration  ?  This,  as  you  are  all 
aware,  is  the  subject  of  one  of  the  great  con- 
troversies of  the  day.  Multitudes  of  church- 
men, in  spite  of  the  Seventeenth  Article,  and 
the  Homily  for  Whit-Sunday,  maintain  that 
all  baptized  persons  are  necessarily  regenerate, 
and  receive  grace,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  at  the 
moment  they  are  baptized.  In  a  word,  they 
tell  us  that  every  man,  woman,  and  child,  who 
has  received  baptism,  has  also  received  regen- 
eration, and  that  every  congregation  in  the 
Church  of  England  should  be  addressed  as  an 
assembly  of  regenerated  persons.  Now  let  us 
hear  Bishop  Latimer. 

He  says,  in  a  sermon  preached  in  Lincoln- 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


71 


shire,  *'  There  be  two  manner  of  men.  Some 
there  be  that  be  not  justified,  not  regenerate, 
not  yet  in  the  state  of  salvation,  that  is  to  say, 
not  God's  servants.  They  lack  the  renova- 
tion, or  regeneration.  They  be  not  yet  come 
to  Christ."  (ii.  7.)  He  says,  in  a  sermon 
preached  before  Edward  VI.,  "Christ  saith, 
Except  a  man  be  born  from  above,  he  can 
not  see  the  kingdom  of  God.  He  must  have 
a  regeneration.  And  what  is  this  regenera- 
tion ?  It  is  rwt  to  he  christened  in  water,  as  those 
firebrands  expound  it,  and  nothing  else.  How 
is  it  to  be  expounded,  then  ?  St.  Peter  show- 
eth  that  one  place  of  Scripture  declareth  an- 
other. It  is  the  circumstance  and  collection 
of  places  that  maketh  Scripture  plain.  We  be 
born  again,  says  Peter,  and  how  ?  Not  by  a 
mortal  seed,  but  an  immortal.  What  is  the 
immortal  seed  ?  By  the  word  of  the  living 
God ; — by  the  word  of  God  preached  and 
opened.  Thus  cometh  in  our  new  birth." 
(i.  202.)  He  says,  in  another  Lincolnshire 
sermon,  "  Preaching  is  God's  instrument, 
whereby  he  worketh  faith  in  our  hearts.  Our 


72 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


Saviour  saith  to  Nicodemus,  Except  a  man 
be  born  anew,  lie  can  not  see  tbe  kingdom  of 
God.  But  how  Cometh  this  regeneration  ? 
By  bearing  and  believing  tbe  word  of  God,  for 
so  saith  St.  Peter."    (i.  471.) 

Once  more,  I  say,  these  passages  require  no 
comment  of  mine.   They  speak  for  themselves. 

In  the  next  place,  what  did  Bishop  Latimer 
think  about  the  Lord^s  Supper?  Tbis,  I  need 
hardly  say,  is  a  subject  about  which  very  un- 
protestant  doctrine  is  often  taugbt  in  tbe  pres- 
ent day.  Some  around  us,  in  the  face  of  tbe 
Twenty-eighth  Article,  speak  of  this  sacrament 
in  such  a  manner,  that  it  is  bard  to  see  the 
difference  between  their  docti  ine  and  popish 
transubstantiation,  or  the  sacrifice  of  tbe  mass. 
Now  let  us  hear  Bisbop  Latimer. 

He  says  in  his  disputation  at  Oxford,  "  In 
the  sacrament  there  is  none  other  presence  of 
Christ  required  than  a  spiritual  presence.  And 
this  presence  is  sufficient  for  a  Cbristian  man, 
as  the  presence  by  which  we  abide  in  Christ, 
and  Christ  in  us,  to  the  obtaining  of  eternal 
life,  if  we  persevere  in  the  true  Gospel.  And 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


73 


this  same  presence  may  be  called  a  real  pres- 
ence, because,  to  the  faithful  believer,  there  is 
the  real  and  spiritual  body  of  Christ."  (ii, 
252.)  He  says,  in  the  same  disputation, 
"  Christ  spake  never  a  word  of  sacrificing,  or 
saying  of  mass ;  nor  promised  the  hearers  any 
reward  but  among  the  idolaters,  with  the  devil 
and  his  angels,  except  they  repent  speedily. 
Therefore,  sacrificing  priests  should  now  cease 
forever ;  for  now  all  men  ought  to  offer  their 
own  bodies  a  quick  sacrifice,  holy  and  accept- 
able before  God.  The  supper  of  the  Lord  was 
instituted  to  provoke  us  to  thanksgiving,  and 
to  stir  us  up  by  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  to 
remember  his  death  till  he  cometh  again." 
(ii.  256.)  He  says,  in  his  last  examination, 
"  There  is  a  change  in  the  bread  and  wine, 
and  such  a  change  as  no  power  but  the  omnip- 
otency  of  God  can  make,  in,  that  that  which 
before  was  bread  should  now  have  the  dignity 
to  exhibit  Christ's  body.  And  yet  the  bread 
is  still  bread,  and  the  wine  still  wine.  For 
the  change  is  not  in  the  nature,  but  the  digni- 
ty." (ii.  286.)  He  says,  in  one  of  his  Lincoln- 
7 


74 


BISHOP  LATIMER, 


shire  sermons,  "  Whosoever  eateth  the  mys- 
tical bread,  and  drinketh  the  mystical  wine 
worthily,  according  to  the  ordinance  of  Christ, 
he  receiveth  surely  the  very  body  and  blood 
of  Christ  spiritually,  as  it  shall  be  most  com- 
fortable to  his  soul.  He  eateth  with  the  mouth 
of  his  soul,  and  digesteth  with  the  stomach  of 
his  soul,  the  body  of  Christ.  And,  to  be  short, 
whosoever  believeth  in  Christ,  putteth  his 
hope,  trust,  and  confidence  in  him,  he  eateth 
and  drinketh  him.  For  the  spiritual  eating  is 
the  right  eating  to  eternal  life,  not  the  corpo- 
real eating."    (i.  459.) 

Once  more  I  say,  I  make  no  comment  on 
these  passages.    They  speak  for  themselves. 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  quotations  of 
this  kind  to  an  endless  length,  if  time  permit- 
ted. There  is  hardly  a  controverted  subject 
in  the  present  day  on  which  I  could  not  give 
you  some  plain,  scriptural,  sensible,  sound 
opinion  of  Bishop  Latimer. 

Would  you  like  to  know  what  he  thought 
about  preaching  f  Did  he  think  little  of  it,  as 
some  do  in  this  day,  and  regard  it  as  a  meana 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


75 


of  grace  very  subordinate  to  sacraments  and 
services  ?  No !  indeed  he  did  not.  He  calls 
it  "  the  office  of  salvation,  and  the  office  of  re- 
generation." He  says,  "  Take  away  preaching, 
and  take  away  salvation."  He  says,  "  This 
office  of  preaching  is  the  only  ordinary  way 
that  God  hath  appointed  to  save  us  all.  Let 
us  maintain  this,  for  I  know  none  other."  He 
declares  that  "  preaching  is  the  thing  the  devil 
wrestled  most  against.  It  hath  been  all  his 
study  to  decay  this  office.  He  worketh  against 
it  as  much  as  he  can.  He  hath  made  unpreach- 
ing  prelates,  and  stirred  them  up  by  heaps  to 
persecute  this  office  in  the  title  of  heresy."  (i. 
155,  203,  306,  349,  202.) 

Would  you  like  to  hear  what  he  thought 
about  a  gorgeous  ceremonial  and  candles  in 
churches?  He  says  plainly,  that  these  things 
come  from  the  devil.  "  Where  the  devil  is 
resident,  and  hath  his  plow  going,  there 
away  with  book,  and  up  with  candles ;  away 
with  Bible,  and  up  with  beads;  away  with 
the  light  of  the  Gospel,  and  up  with  the  light 
of  candles,  yea,  even  at  noon-day.  Where 


76 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


the  devil  is  resident  that  he  may  prevail,  up 
with  all  superstition  and  idolatry,  censing, 
painting  of  images,  candles,  palms,  ashes,  holy 
water,  and  new  services  of  man's  inventing." 
(i.  71.) 

Would  you  like  to  know  what  he  thought 
about  unity  ?  Did  he  think,  as  some  do  now, 
that  it  is  the  one  thing  needful,  and  that  we 
should  give  up  every  thing  in  order  to  obtain 
it  ?  No !  indeed.  He  says,  "  Unity  must  be 
according  to  God's  holy  Word,  or  else  it  were 
better  war  than  peace.  We  ought  never  to 
regard  unity  so  much  that  we  forsake  God's 
Word  for  her  sake."    (i.  487.) 

Would  you  like  to  know  what  he  thought 
about  the  foreign  reformers  f  Did  he  lightly 
esteem  them,  as  some  do  now-a-days,  because 
they  did  not  retain  episcopacy  ?  No !  indeed 
he  did  not.  He  says,  "  I  heard  say,  Melanc- 
thon,  that  great  clerk,  should  come  hither.  I 
would  wish  him,  and  such  as  he  is,  to  have  two 
hundred  pounds  a  year.  The  king  would 
never  want  it.  There  is  yet  among  us  two 
great  learned  men,  Peter  Martyr  and  Bernard 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


77 


Ochin,  which  have  a  hundred  marks  a-piece. 
I  would  the  king  would  bestow  a  thousand 
pounds  on  that  sort."    (i.  141.) 

Would  you  like  to  know  what  he  thought 
about  councils  and  convocations  ?  Did  he  regard 
them  as  the  grand  panacea  for  all  ecclesiastical 
evils,  like  those  around  us,  whose  cry  is, 
"  Give  us  synodical  action,  or  we  die  ?"  He 
says  to  Eidley,  "  touching  councils  and  convo- 
cations, I  refer  you  to  your  own  experience  to 
think  of  our  own  country's  parliaments  and 
convocations.  The  more  part  in  my  time 
did  bring  forth  the  Six  Articles.  Afterward 
the  more  part  did  repeal  the  same.  The  same 
Articles  are  now  again  restored.  Oh!  what 
uncertainty  is  this."  And  he  says,  in  another 
place,  "  More  credence  is  to  be  given  to  one 
man  having  the  holy  Word  of  God  for  him, 
than  to  ten  thousand  without  the  Word.  If  it 
agree  with  God's  Word  it  is  to  be  received. 
K  it  agree  not,  it  is  not  to  be  received,  though 
a  council  had  determined  it."  (Eidley,  130 ; 
Latim.  i.  288.) 

Would  you  like  to  know  what  he  thought 
7* 


78 


pf  thorough-going  Protestant  preaching?  Did  he 
■^hink,  as  some  do  now,  that  if  a  sermon  con- 
tains a  good  deal  of  truth,  a  little  false  doctrine 
may  be  excused  and  allowed  ?  No !  indeed 
he  did  not.  He  says,  "  Many  preach  God's 
way,  and  shall  preach  a  very  good  and  godly 
sermon,  but  at  last  they  will  have  a  blanched 
almond,  one  little  piece  of  popery  patched  in 
to  powder  their  matter  with,  for  their  own 
lucre  and  glory.  They  make  a  mingling  of 
the  way  of  God  and  man's  way,  a  mingle- 
mangle,  as  men  serve  pigs  in  my  country." 
(i.  290.) 

I  will  not  detain  you  any  longer  with  these 
extracts.  I  have  already  trespassed  too  much 
on  your  attention.  I  will  only  ask  you  to  re- 
member well  whose  words  I  have  been  quoting, 
and  when  they  were  spoken. 

These  words  were  not  spoken  last  year. 
They  did  not  fall  from  the  lips  of  the  rectors 
of  St.  George's,  Bloomsbury;  or  St.  Mary, 
Whitechapel ;  or  St.  George's,  South wark. 
They  were  not  spoken  by  the  ministers  of 
Park  Chapel,  Chelsea ;  or  of  Portman  Chapel ; 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


79 


or  the  Lock;  or  St.  John's,  Bedford-row,  or 
by  some  platform-orator,  at  Exeter  Hall.  No ! 
gentlemen,  the  words  I  have  quoted  are  three 
hundred  years  old.  They  are  the  words  of 
one  of  the  best  bishops  the  Church  of  England 
ever  had.  They  are  the  words  of  the  man 
who  helped  to  compose  our  first  book  of  Hom- 
ilies. They  are  the  words  of  the  friend  and 
adviser  of  Archbishop  Cranmer.  They  are 
the  words  of  one  whom  king  and  parliament 
delighted  to  honor. 

Why  was  the  speaker  of  these  words  not 
cast  out  of  the  church?  Why  was  he  not 
reprimanded  ?  Why  was  he  not  reviled  as  a 
man  of  low,  unchurchmanlike  opinions  ?  Why 
was  he  not  proceeded  against,  and  persecuted 
for  his  views  ?  How  is  it  that  he  was  perse- 
cuted only  by  papists,  but  always  honored  by 
Protestants — persecuted  by  Bonner,  Gardiner, 
and  Bloody  Mary  ;  but  honored  by  Cranmer, 
Ridley,  and  Edward  VI.  ? 

I  will  give  you  a  plain  answer  to  these  ques- 
tions. I  answer  them  by  saying  that,  three 
hundred  years  ago,  no  man  in  his  senses  doubt- 


80 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


ed  that  Latimer's  opinions  were  the  real  opin- 
ions of  the  Church  of  England.  I  go  on  fur- 
ther to  afi&rm,  that  the  truest  and  best  memhers 
of  the  Church  of  England  at  the  present  day, 
are  those  whose  views  are  most  in  harmony 
with  those  of  good  Bishop  Latimer.  And  I 
say  that,  to  tell  men  who  love  the  Church  of 
England  with  deep  affection,  that  they  are  not 
sound  churchmen,  merely  because  they  agree 
•with  Latimer  and  not  with  Laud,  is  to  bring 
against  them  a  most  unfair  and  unwarrantable 
charge. 

And  now  let  me  conclude  this  Lecture  with 
three  practical  remarks. 

For  one  thing,  let  me  advise  the  members 
of  the  Church  of  England  Young  Men's  Soci- 
ety, to  take  care  that  their  Society  never  departs 
from  its  declared  principles.  Sound  principles 
are  the  roots  of  a  Society's  success.  Without 
these,  your  means  and  appliances  for  doing 
good  will  prove  comparatively  useless.  Your 
libraries,  and  reading-rooms,  and  lectures,  will 
fail  to  confer  on  you  lasting  benefits.  With- 
out sound  principles,  they  may  look  well  in 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


81 


your  annual  reports  ;  but,  like  a  tree  rotten  at 
the  root,  they  will  bring  no  fruit  to  perfection. 

Take  up  your  stand  boldly  on  the  principle 
of  the  English  reformers.  Never  shrink  from 
avowing  yourselves  to  be  a  thoroughly  Prot- 
estant and  evangelical  body.  Do  not  be  shy 
of  those  two  words.  Such  avowal  may  lose 
you  the  support  of  a  few  pretended  friends, 
who  will  drop  off  like  leaves  in  autumn  when 
they  see  your  decision.  It  will,  however, 
strengthen  you  in  the  long  run,  and  make  you 
an  evergreen  tree.  Pardon  the  freedom  of  this 
hint.  I  give  it  because  you  live  in  evil  days, 
and  because  I  am  anxious  you  should  hoist 
the  right  colors,  and  be  an  unmistakable 
Society. 

In  the  next  place,  let  me  earnestly  exhort 
you,  as  individuals,  never  to  be  ashamed  of  hold- 
ing what  are  called  evangelical  views  within  the 
Church  of  Engla7id.  Listen  not  to  those  super- 
cilious gentlemen,  on  the  one  side,  who  would 
have  you  believe  that  if  you  are  not  high 
churchmen,  like  themselves,  you  are  no  church- 
men at  alL    Listen  not  to  those  exceedingly 


82 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


kind  friends,  on  the  other  side,  'who  trj  to 
persuade  you  that  the  Established  Church  is  a 
regular  popish  concern,  and  ought  to  be  left 
at  once.  Both  these  are  ancient  tricks.  Against 
both  these  tricks  be  on  your  guard. 

Do  not  be  bullied  out  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land by  the  high  churchman's  assertion  that 
you  are  only  a  tolerated  party,  and  have  no 
business  by  his  side.  No  doubt  you  live  in  a 
communion  where  great  freedom  of  opinion  is 
allowed.  But  to  tell  men  of  evangelical  views 
that  they  are  merely  iolerated,  is  a  downright 
insult  to  the  memory  of  the  reformers.  Let  us 
make  answer  to  people  who  tell  us  so,  that,  if 
they  have  forgotten  Latimer  and  three  hun- 
dred years  ago,  we  have  not.  Let  us  say  that 
we  are  not  going  to  desert  the  church  of  Lati- 
mer, in  order  to  please  men  who  wish  to  lord 
it  over  God's  heritage,  and  have  things  all 
their  own  way.  Sure  I  am  that,  if  might 
should  ever  prevail  over  right,  and  the  friends 
of  Latimer  should  be  thrust  out  of  the  church 
by  force,  and  the  House  of  Commons  should 
be  mad  enough  to  sanction  it — sure  am  I,  that 


BISHOP  LATIMEE. 


83 


the  men  thrust  out  would  be  better  cburchmen 
than  the  men  left  behind. 

And  do  not  be  wheedled  out  of  the  Church 
by  the  arguments  of  men  outside,  who  would 
probably  be  glad  to  be  in  it,  if  they  only  saw 
the  way.  When  the  fox,  in  an  old  fable, 
could  not  reach  the  grapes,  he  said  they  were 
sour.  When  the  fox,  in  another  fable,  lost  his 
tail  in  a  trap,  he  tried  to  persuade  his  friends 
that  foxes  did  much  better  without  tails,  and 
advised  them  to  get  rid  of  their  own.  Do  not 
forget  the  moral  of  that  fable  ;  do  not  be  en- 
ticed into  biting  off  your  own  tails.  Rest  as- 
sured, that  with  all  its  faults  and  defects,  the 
Church  of  England  has  very  high  privileges 
to  offer  to  its  members.  Think  well  about 
these  privileges.  Do  not  be  always  poring 
over  the  defects.  Resolve  that  you  will  not 
lightly  cast  these  privileges  away. 

Above  all,  never,  never  forget  that  evangel- 
ical views  are  not  only  theoretically  sound 
and  agreeable  to  the  minds  of  the  reformers, 
but  they  are  also  of  vital  importance  to  the 
very  existence  of  the  Church  of  England. 


84 


BISHOP  LATIMER, 


Never  has  our  beloved  Church  stood  so  low 
in  this  country,  as  when  evangelical  views 
have  been  at  zero,  and  almost  forgotten. 
Never  has  she  stood  so  high  as  when  the 
views  of  Latimer  and  the  Reformers  have  been 
honestly  preached,  and  carried  out.  So  far 
from  being  ashamed  of  evangelical  opinions, 
you  may  be  satisfied  that  the  maintenance  of 
them  is  rapidly  becoming  a  matter  of  life  or 
death  to  your  own  communion.  Take  away 
Latimer's  views,  and  I  firmly  believe  the  whole 
Establishment  would  collapse  before  the  press- 
ure from  without,  and  come  to  the  ground. 

Last  of  all,  let  me  entreat  you  all,  as  Eng- 
lishmen, to  beware  of  countenancing  any  retro- 
grade movement  in  this  country  toward  the  Church 
of  Borne,  and  to  resist  sitch  movement  by  every 
means  in  your  power ^  from  whatever  quarter  it 
muy  come. 

I  am  sure  that  this  warning  is  one  which  the 
times  loudly  call  for.  The  Church  of  Rome 
has  risen  up  among  us  with  renewed  strength 
in  the  last  few  years.  She  does  not  disguise 
her  hope  that  England,  the  lost  planet,  will 


BISHOP  LATIMER, 


85 


soon  resume  her  orbit  in  the  so-called  Catholic 
system,  and  once  more  revolve  in  blind  obe- 
dience round  the  center  of  the  Vatican.  She 
has  succeeded  in  blinding  the  eyes  of  ignorant 
persons  to  her  real  character.  She  has  suc- 
ceeded in  securing  the  unexpected  aid  of  mis- 
guided men  within  our  own  Establishment. 
A  hundred  little  symptoms  around  us  tell  us 
how  real  the  danger  is.  Laud  and  the  non- 
jurors are  cried  up,  Latimer  and  the  reformers 
are  cried  down.  Historical  works  are  indus- 
triously circulated,  in  which  Bloody  Mary  is 
praised,  and  Protestant  Elizabeth  blamed.  A 
morbid  tenderness  toward  Eomanists,  and  a 
virulent  bitterness  toward  Dissenters,  have 
sprung  up  side  by  side.  An  unhealthy  atten- 
tion is  paid  to  what  is  called  mediaeval  taste. 
Thousands  of  tracts  are  sown  broad-cast  over 
the  land  in  which  the  three  leading  phrases  to 
be  seen  are  generally  those  three  ominous 
words,  "priest"  "catholic,''^  and  "church."  The 
use  of  the  rosary,  prayers  for  the  dead,  and 
the  Hail  Mary,  is  deliberately  recommended 
to  the  members  of  the  English  Church.  Little 
8 


86 


BISHOP  LATIMEE. 


by  little,  I  fear,  the  edge  of  English  feeling 
about  poperj  is  becoming  blunt  and  dull. 
Surely  I  have  good  reason  to  tell  you  to  be- 
ware of  the  Churcli  of  Rome. 

Eemember  the  darkness  in  whicb  Rome  kept 
England  when  she  last  had  the  supreme  power. 
Remember  the  gross  ignorance  and  degrading 
superstitions  which  prevailed  in  Bishop  Lati- 
mer's youth.  Think  not  for  a  moment  that 
these  are  ancient  things,  and  that  Rome  is 
changed.  The  holy-coat  of  Treves,  the  wink- 
ing picture  at  Rimini,  the  mental  thralldom  in 
which  unhappy  Italy  is  kept,  the  notorious 
practices  which  go  on  in  the  Holy  City  to  this 
day,  are  all  witnesses  that  Rome,  when  she 
has  power,  is  not  changed  at  all.  Remember 
this,  and  beware. 

Remember  the  horrible  persecutions  which 
Rome  carried  on  against  true  religion  Avhen 
she  last  had  uncontrolled  sway  in  this  country. 
Remember  the  atrocities  which  disgraced  the 
days  of  ^Bloody  Mary,  and  the  burning  of 
Bishop  Latimer.  Think  not  for  a  moment 
that  Rome  is  altered.    The  persecution  of 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


87 


Bible  readers  in  Madeira,  and  the:  imprison- 
ment of  the  Madiai,  are  unmistakable  proofs 
that,  after  three  hundred  years,  the  old  perse- 
cuting spirit  of  Kome  still  remains  as  strong 
as  ever,    Kemember  this  also,  and  beware. 

Shall  we,  in  the  face  of  such  facts  as  these, 
retm-n  to  the  bondage  in  which  our  forefathers 
were  kept  ?  Shall  we  give  up  our  Bibles,  or 
be  content  to  sue  for  sacerdotal  license  to  read 
them  ?  Shall  we  submit  ourselves  humbly  to 
Italian  priests  ?  Shall  we  go  back  to  the  ado- 
ration of  pigs'  bones,  ducks'  blood,  and  saints' 
toe  nails  ?  God  forbid — I  say  for  one — God 
forbid  !  Let  the  dog  return  to  his  vomit.  Let 
the  sow  that  was  washed,  return  to  her  wal- 
lowing in  the  mire.  Let  the  idiotic  prisoner 
go  back  to  his  chains.  But  God  forbid  that 
Israel  should  return  to  Egypt !  God  forbid 
that  England  should  go  back  into  the  arms  of 
Rome  !  God  forbid  that  old  Latimer's  candle 
should  ever  be  put  out ! 

Work,  every  one,  if  you  would  prevent  such 
a  miserable  consummation.  Work  hard  for 
the  extension  of  pure,  scriptural,  and  evangel- 


88 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


ical  religion  at  home  and  abroad.  Labor  to 
spread  it  among  the  Jews,  among  the  Roman 
Catholics,  among  the  heathen.  Labor  not 
least  to  preserve  and  maintain  it,  by  every 
constitutional  means,  in  your  own  church. 

Cherish,  every  one,  if  you  would  prevent 
the  increase  of  Romanism — cherish  and  culti- 
vate a  brotherly  feeling  toward  all  orthodox 
Protestants,  by  whatever  name  they  may  be 
called.  Away  with  the  old  rubbishy  opinion, 
that  the  Chtirch  of  England  occupies  a  middle 
position,  a  via  media  between  dissent  and 
Rome.  Cast  it  away,  for  it  is  false.  You 
might  as  well  talk  of  the  Isle  of  "Wight  being 
midway  between  England  and  France.  Be- 
tween us  and  Rome  there  is  a  gulf,  and  a 
broad  and  deep  gulf  too.  Between  us  and  or- 
thodox Protestant  di^ent,  there  is  but  a  thin 
partition  wall.  Between  us  and  Rome  the 
differences  are  about  essential  doctrines,  and 
things  absolutely  necessary  to  salvation.  Be- 
tween us  and  dissent  the  division  is  about 
things  indifferent,  things  in  which  a  man  may 
err,  and  yet  be  saved.    Rome  is  a  downright 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


89 


open  enemy,  attacking  the  very  foundation  of 
our  religion.  Dissent  is  an  ally,  and  friendly 
power,  not  wearing  our  uniform,  nor  yet,  as 
we  think,  so  well  equipped  as  we  are,  but  still 
an  ally,  and  fighting  on  the  same  side.  Oh! 
do  not  let  this  hint  be  thrown  away.  Cherish, 
I  do  beseech  you,  a  kind,  brotherly  feeling 
toward  all  who  love  the  same  Saviour,  believe 
the  same  doctrines,  and  honor  the  same  Bible 
as  yourselves. 

Pray,  every  one,  if  you  would  prevent  the 
increase  of  Eomanism — ^pray  night  and  day, 
that  God  may  preserve  this  country  from  pope- 
ry, and  not  deal  with  it  according  to  its  sins. 
It  is  a  striking  fact  that  almost  the  last  prayer 
of  good  King  Edward  YL,  on  his  death-bed, 
was  a  prayer  to  this  effect ;  "0,  my  Lord  God, 
defend  this  realm  from  papistry,  and  maintain 
thy  true  religion."  There  was  a  prayer  in  the 
Litany  of  our  Prayer-book,  in  1549,  which,  I 
think,  never  ought  to  have  been  cast  out  of  it. 
"  From  all  sedition,  and  privy  conspiracy — 

FROM  THE  TYRANNY  OF  THE  BlSHOP  OP  KOME, 
AND  ALL  HIS  DETESTABLE  ENORMITIES — ^from 
8* 


90 


BISHOP  LATIMER. 


all  false  doctrine,  and  heresy — from  hardness 
of  heart,  and  contempt  of  thy  word  and  com- 
mandments, Good  Lord,  deliver  us !"  To  that 
prayer  may  you  ever  be  able  to  say  heartily, 
Amen,  and  amen ! 

London,  February  28, 1853. 


IL 

farter  an^r  \\s  f imesf 


A  LECTURE  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


II. 


I  MUST  ask  you  to-night  to  look  back  to 
times  long  gone  by — to  look  back  some  two 
hundred  years.  I  feel  this  is  rather  a  bold  re- 
quest to  make.  Progress  is  the  order  of  the 
day  in  which  you  live.  "Go  a  head"  has  be- 
come a  familiar  expression  wherever  English 
is  spoken.  "Forward"  is  the  motto  of  the 
times.    Few  are  willing  to  look  back. 

But  there  are  subjects  about  which  it  is  well 
to  look  behind  us.  There  are  matters  in  which 
a  knowledge  of  the  past  may  teach  us  wisdom 
for  the  present  and  the  future.  The  history 
of  religion  is  pre-eminently  such  a  subject  and 
matter.  Steam,  electricity,  railways,  and  gas, 
have  made  a  wonderful  difference  in  the  tem- 
poral condition  of  mankind  in  the  last  two 


94  BAXTER  AND  EUS  TIMES. 


hundred  years.  But  all  this  time  the  Bible 
and  the  hearts  of  men  have  remained  un- 
altered. That  which  men  did  and  thought  in 
rehgious  matters  two  hundred  years  ago,  they 
are  capable  of  doing  and  thinking  again. 
What  they  thought  and  did  in  England,  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  it  is  well  to  know. 

And  just  as  there  are  subjects  about  which 
it  is  wise  to  look  behind  us,  so  also  there  are 
times  long  gone  by  which  deserve  our  special 
attention.  There  are  times  when  the  character 
of  a  nation  receives  an  indelible  impression 
from  events  which  take  place  in  a  single  gene- 
ration. There  have  been  times  when  the 
dearest  privileges  of  a  people  have  been 
brought  to  the  birth,  and  called  into  vigorous 
existence,  through  the  desperate  agony  of  civil 
war  and  rehgious  strife.  Such,  I  take  leave  to 
say,  were  the  times  of  which  I  am  about  to 
speak  to-night.  To  no  times  are  Englishmen  so 
deeply  indebted  for  their  civil  and  religious  hb- 
erty  as  the  times  in  Avhich  Baxter  lived.  To  no 
body  of  men  do  they  owe  such  an  unpaid  debt 
of  gratitude  as  they  do  to  that  noble  host,  of 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  95 


which  Baxter  was  a  standard-bearer — I  mean 
the  Puritans.  To  no  man  among  the  Puritans 
are  the  lovers  of  rehgious  freedom  under  such 
large  obligations  as  they  are  to  Richard  Baxter. 
This  is  the  man,  and  these  are  the  times,  which 
form  the  subject  of  this  evening's  lecture. 

I  am  fully  sensible  of  the  difficulties  which 
surround  the  subject.  It  is  a  subject  which 
few  historians  handle  fairly,  simply  because 
they  do  not  understand  spiritual  religion.  To 
an  unconverted  man  the  religious  differences 
of  the  day  of  the  Puritans  must  necessarily 
appear  foolishness.  He  is  no  more  qualified 
to  give  an  opinion  about  them  than  a  blind 
man  is  to  talk  of  pictures.  It  is  a  subject 
which  no  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England 
can  approach  without  laying  himself  open  to 
misrepresentation.  He  will  be  suspected  of 
disaffection  to  his  own  Church,  if  he  speaks 
favorably  of  men  who  opposed  Bishops.  But 
it  is  a  subject  on  which  it  is  most  important  for 
Christian  young  men  to  have  distinct  opinions, 
and  I  must  ask  for  a  patient  hearing.  If  I  can 
correct  some  false  impressions,  if  I  can  supply 


96  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


you  with  a  few  great  principles  to  guide  you 
in  these  perilous  times,  I  feel  I  shall  have  done 
your  souls  an  essential  service.  And  if  I  fail 
to  interest  you  in  "  Baxter  and  his  Times,"  I 
am  sure  the  fault  is  not  iu  the  subject,  but  in  me. 

1.  The  times  in  which  Baxter  lived  compre- 
hend such  avast  amount  of  interesting  matter, 
that  I  must  of  necessity  leave  many  points  in 
their  history  entii'ely  untouched. 

You  will  see  my  meaning  when  I  tell  you 
that  he  was  born  in  1615,  and  died  in  1691. 
Nearly  all  his  life  was  passed  under  the  dynasty 
of  a  house  which  reigned  over  England  with 
no  benefit  to  the  country  and  no  credit  to  itself 
— I  mean  the  Stuarts.  He  lived  through  the 
reign  of  James  I.,  Cbarles  I.,  Charles  II.,  and 
James  II.,  and  was  buried  in  the  reign  of  Wil- 
liam III.  He  was  in  the  prime  of  health  and 
intellectual  vigor  all  through  the  days  of  the 
Commonwealth  and  the  Civil  Wars.  He  wit- 
nessed the  overthrow  of  the  Monarchy  and  the 
Church  of  England,  and  their  subsequent  re- 
estabhshment.  He  was  a  cotemporary  of  Crom- 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES,  97 


•well,  of  Laud,  of  Strafford,  of  Hampden,  of  Pym, 
of  Monk,  of  Clarendon,  of  Milton,  of  Hale,  of 
Jeffreys,  of  Blake.  In  his  days  took  place  the 
public  execution  of  an  English  monarch, 
Charles  I.— of  an  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
Laud — and  of  a  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland 
Strafford.  Within  the  single  period  of  his  life 
are  to  be  found  the  plague,  the  fire  of  London, 
the  "Westminster  Assembly,  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment, the  Savoy  Conference,  and  the  rejection 
of  two  thousand  of  the  best  ministers  of  the 
Church  of  England  by  the  Act  of  Uniformity. 
Such  were  the  eventful  times  in  which  Baxter 
lived.  I  can  not,  of  course,  pretend  to  enter 
fully  into  them.  Their  history  forms  a  huge 
picture,  like  the  moving  panorama  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, which  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  take  in 
at  a  glance.  I  shall  simply  try  to  fix  your  at- 
tention on  a  few  of  the  leading  features  of  the 
picture,  and  I  shall  choose  those  points  which 
appear  to  me  most  likely  to  be  useful  in  the 
present  day. 

One  remarkable  feature  in  the  history  of 
Baxter's  times  is  the  move  backward  from  the 
9 


98  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES, 


principles  of  the  Protestant  Eeformation,  wliicli 
commenced  in  his  youth.  Doctrines  and  prac- 
tices began  to  be  maintained,  both  by  preachers 
and  writers  in  the  Church  of  England,  which 
Latimer  and  Jewell  would  never  have  sanc- 
tioned. Sound  evangelical  teaching  was  de- 
cried and  run  down,  under  the  specious  name 
of  Calvinism.  Good  bishops,  like  Davenant, 
were  snubbed  and  reprimanded.  Bad  bishops, 
like  Montague  and  Wren,  were  patted  on  the 
back  and  encouraged.  Preaching  and  lectur- 
ing were  depreciated,  and  forms  and  ceremo- 
nies were  exalted.  The  benefits  of  episcopacy 
were  extravagantly  magnified.  Candlesticks 
and  crosses,  and  all  manner  of  Popish  orna- 
ments, were  introduced  into  some  of  the 
churches.  The  sanctity  of  the  Lord's  day  was 
invaded  by  the  abominable  "  Book  of  Sports," 
and  common  people  were  encouraged  to  spend 
Sunday  in  England  as  it  is  now  spent  in 
France.  The  communion-tables,  which  up  to 
this  time  had  stood  in  the  middle  of  the 
chancel,  were  removed  to  the  east  end  of  the 
churches,  put  behind  rails,  and  profanely  called 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  99 


altars.  Against  all  these  sapping  and  min- 
ing operations,  some,  no  doubt,  protested 
loudly ;  but  still  the  sappers  and  miners  went 
on. 

The  prime  agent  in  the  whole  movement 
was  Archbishop  Laud.  Whether  that  unhappy 
man  really  intended  to  re-unite  the  Church  of 
England  with  the  Church  of  Kome  is  a  question 
which  will  probably  never  be  settled  till  the 
last  day.  One  thing  is  very  certain,  that  no 
one  could  have  played  the  game  of  Eome 
more  thoroughly  than  he  did. 

Like  many  a  mischief-maker  before  and 
since,  Laud  pulled  the  house  upon  his  own 
head.  He  raised  a  storm  at  length  before  which 
the  Church,  the  Throne,  and  the  Bishops,  all 
went  down  together,  and  in  the  midst  of  which 
he  himself  was  put  on  his  trial  and  lost  his 
life.  But  the  Church  of  England  received  an 
injury  in  Laud's  days  from  which  it  has  never 
entirely  recovered.  Since  his  time  there  never 
has  been  wanting  a  succession  of  men  among 
its  ministers  who  have  held  most  of  Laud's 
principles,    and   occasionally   have  boldly 


100  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


•walked  in  his  steps.  So  true  are  the  words 
of  Shakespeare, 

"The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them." 

The  harm  that  Queen  Mary  did  to  the  Church 
of  England  was  nothing  compared  to  the  harm 
done  by  Laud. 

Young  men,  never  underrate  the  mischief 
that  one  bold,  bad  man  can  do,  and  especially 
in  matters  of  religion.  The  seeds  of  error  are 
like  thistle-down.  One  head  scattered  by  the 
wind  will  sow  a  whole  field.  One  Tom  Paine 
can  rear  up  Infidels  all  over  the  world.  One 
Laud  can  leaven  generations  with  untold  mis- 
chief Never  suppose  that  Tractarianism  is  a 
legitimate  child  of  the  Church  of  England. 
It  is  not  so.  It  was  scarcely  heard  of  till  the 
time  of  the  Stuarts.  Never  suppose  that 
Tractarianism  is  a  new  invention  of  these  latter 
days.  It  is  not  so.  It  is  two  hundred  years 
old.  The  father  of  Tractarians  is  Archbishop 
Laud.  Eemember  these  things,  and  you  will 
have  learned  something  from  Baxter's  times. 

Another  remarkable  feature  in  the  history 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  101 


of  Baxter's  times  is  the  famous  civil  war  be- 
tween Charles  I.  and  his  Parliament. 

All  war  is  an  evil — a  necessary  evil  some- 
times— but  still  an  evil ;  and  of  all  wars,  the 
most  distressing  is  a  civil  war.  It  is  a  kind  of 
huge  family  quarrel.  It  is  a  struggle  in  which 
victory  brings  no  glory,  because  the  strife  has 
been  a  strife  of  brethren.  Edge  Hill,  and 
Newbury,  and  Marston  Moor,  and  Naseby,  and 
Worcester,  are  names  which  call  up  none  but 
painful  reflections.  The  victors  in  each  battle 
had  spilled  the  blood  of  their  own  countrymen, 
and  lessened  the  general  strength  of  the  nation. 

But  there  is  a  point  of  view  in  which  the 
civil  war  between  Charles  I.  and  his  Parlia- 
ment was  peculiarly  distressing.  I  allude  to 
the  striking  fact,  that  the  general  irreligion 
and  immorality  of  the  King's  party  did  more 
to  ruin  his  cause  than  all  the  armies  which  the 
Parliament  raised.  There  were  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  steady,  quiet  men,  who,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  were  desirous  to  be  still, 
and  help  neither  side.  But  when  they  found 
that  a  man  could  not  read  his  Bible  to  his  de- 
9* 


102  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


pendents  and  have  prayer  in  his  family  -without 
being  persecuted  as  a  Eoundhead,  they  felt 
obliged,  in  self-defense,  to  join  the  Parliament- 
ary forces.  In  plain  words,  the  wickedness 
and  profligacy  of  man}'  of  the  Cavaliers  drove 
godly  men  into  the  ranks  of  their  enemies. 
That  there  was  plenty  of  hypocrisy,  fanaticism, 
and  enthusiasm  on  the  Parliamentary  side  I 
make  no  question.  That  there  were  some 
good  men  among  the  Cavaliers,  such  as  Lord 
Falkland,  I  do  not  deny.  But  after  every  al- 
lowance, I  have  no  doubt  there  was  far  more 
true  religion  among  those  who  fought  for  the 
Parliament  than  among  those  who  fought  for 
the  King. 

The  result  of  the  civil  war,  under  these  pe- 
culiar circumstances,  never  need  surprise  any 
one  who  knows  human  nature.  The  drinking, 
swearing,  roistering  troopers,  who  were  led 
by  Prince  Rupert,  and  Wilmot,  and  Goring, 
proved  no  match  for  the  praying,  psalm-sing- 
ing, Bible -reading  men  whom  Cromwell,  and 
Fairfax,  and  Ireton,  and  Harrison,  and  Fleet- 
wood, and  Desborough,  brought  into  the  field. 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  103 


The  steadiest  men  will  in  the  long  run  make 
the  best  soldiers.  A  side  which  has  a  strong 
religious  principle  among  its  supporters  will 
seldom  be  a  losing  one.  "  Those  who  honor 
God,  God  will  honor;  and  thej  that  despise 
Him  shall  be  lightly  esteemed." 

I  shall  dismiss  the  subject  of  the  civil  war 
with  one  general  remark,  and  one  caution. 

My  genera]  remark  is,  that,  deeply  as  we 
must  regret  the  civil  war,  we  must  in  fairness 
remember  that  we  probably  owe  to  it  the  free 
and  excellent  Constitution  which  we  possess  in 
this  country.  God  can  bring  good  out  of  evil. 
The  oscillations  of  England  between  despotism 
and  anarchy,  and  anarchy  and  despotism,  for 
many  years  after  the  breach  between  Charles  I. 
and  the  House  of  Commons,  were  certainly  tre- 
mendously violent.  Still  we  must  confess,  that 
great  political  lessons  were  probably  imprinted 
on  the  English  mind  at  that  period,  of  which 
we  are  reaping  the  benefit  at  this  very  day. 
Monarchs  were  taught  that,  like  planets  in 
heaven,  they  must  be  content  to  move  in  a  cer- 
tain orbit,  and  that  an  enlightened  people 


104  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


"would  not  be  governed  and  taxed  without  the 
consent  of  an  unfettered  House  of  Commons. 
Nations  were  taught  that  it  is  a  far  easier  thing 
to  pull  to  pieces  than  to  build,  and  to  upset  an 
ancient  monarchy  than  to  find  a  government 
■which  shall  be  a  satisfactory  substitute.  Many 
of  the  foundations  of  our  choicest  national  priv- 
ileges, I  make  no  doubt,  were  laid  in  the  Com- 
monwealth times.  You  will  do  well  to  remem- 
ber this.  You  may  rest  satisfied  that  this  coun- 
try owes  an  immense  debt  of  gratitude  to 
Brooke,  and  Hampden,  and  Whitelock,  and 
Pym. 

The  caution  I  wish  to  give  you  respects  the 
execution  of  Charles  I.  You  will  do  well  to 
remember  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  Puritans 
were  entirely  guiltless  of  any  participation  in 
the  trial  and  death  of  the  king.  It  is  a  vulgar 
error  to  suppose,  as  many  do,  that  the  whole 
Parliamentary  party  are  accountable  for  that 
wicked  and  impolitic  act.  The  immense  ma- 
jority of  the  Presbyterians  protested  loudly 
against  it.  Baxter  tells  us  expressly  in  his 
autobiography,  that,  together  with  many  other 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  105 


ministers,  he  declared  his  abhorrence  of  it,  and 
used  every  exertion  to  prevent  it.  The  deed 
was  the  doing  of  Cromwell  and  his  immediate 
adherents  in  the  army,  and  it  is  at  their  door 
that  the  whole  guilt  must  lie.  That  the  great 
body  of  the  Puritans  espoused  the  Parliament- 
ary side  there  is  no  doubt.  But  as  to  any  ab- 
stract dislike  to  royalty,  or  assent  to  King 
Charles'  death,  the  Puritans  are  entirely  inno- 
cent. Eemember  this,  young  men,  and  you 
will  have  learned  something  from  the  history 
of  Baxter's  times. 

The  next  feature  in  the  history  of  Baxter's 
times,  to  which  I  shall  venture  to  call  your 
attention,  is  the  rise  and  conduct  of  that  re- 
markable man,  Oliver  Cromwell. 

There  are  few  men  on  whose  character  more 
obloquy  has  been  heaped  than  Oliver  Crom- 
well. He  has  been  painted  by  some  as  a  mon- 
ster of  wickedness  and  hypocrisy.  Nothing 
has  been  too  bad  to  say  of  him.  Such  an  es- 
timate of  him  is  simply  ridiculous.  It  defeats 
the  end  of  those  who  form  it.  They  forget 
that  it  is  no  compliment  to  England  to  suppose 


106  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


that  it  would  so  long  tolerate  the  rule  of  such 
a  monster.  The  man  who  could  raise  himself 
from  being  the  son  of  a  brewer  at  Huntingdon 
to  be  the  most  successful  general  of  his  age, 
and  absolute  dictator  of  this  country  for  many 
years,  must,  on  the  very  face  of  facts,  have 
been  a  most  extraordinary  man. 

For  my  own  part  I  tell  you  frankly,  that  I 
think  you  ought  to  consider  the  estimate  of 
Cromwell,  which  Carlyle  and  D'Aubigne  have 
formed,  to  be  a  near  approach  to  the  truth. 
I  own  I  can  not  go  the  lengths  of  the  latter 
writer.  I  dare  not  pronounce  positively  that 
Cromwell  was  a  sincere  Christian.  I  leave 
the  question  in  suspense.  I  hazard  no  opinion 
about  it  one  way  or  the  other,  because  I  do 
not  find  sufficient  materials  for  forming  an 
opinion.  If  I  were  to  look  at  his  private  let- 
ters, only,  I  should  not  hesitate  to  call  him  a 
converted  man.  But  when  I  look  at  some  of 
his  public  acts,  I  see  much  that  appears  to  me 
very  inexplicable.  And  when  I  observe  how 
doubtfully  Baxter  and  other  good  men,  who 
were  his  cotemporaries,  speak  of  him,  my  hes- 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  107 


itancy  as  to  Lis  spirituality  is  mucli  increased. 
In  short,  I  turn  from  the  question  in  a  state  of 
doubt. 

That  Oliver  Cromwell  was  one  of  the  great- 
est Englishmen  that  ever  lived,  I  feel  no  doubt 
at  all.  No  man,  probably,  ever  won  supreme 
power  by  the  sword,  and  then  used  that  power 
with  such  moderation  as  he  did.  England  was 
probably  more  feared  and  respected  through- 
out Europe,  during  the  short  time  that  he  was 
Protector,  than  she  ever  was  before,  or  ever 
has  been  since.  His  very  name  carried  terror 
with  it.  He  declared  that  he  would  make  the 
name  of  an  Englishman  as  great  as  ever  that  of  a 
Roman  had  been.  And  he  certainly  succeeded. 
He  made  it  publicly  known  that  he  would  not 
allow  the  Protestant  faith  to  be  insulted  in  any 
part  of  the  world.  And  he  kept  his  word. 
When  the  Duke  of  Savoy  began  to  persecute 
the  Vaudois  in  his  days,  Cromwell  interfered 
at  once  on  their  behalf,  and  never  rested  until 
the  duke's  army  was  recalled  from  the  villages, 
and  the  poor  people's  goods  and  houses  restor- 
ed.   When  certain  Protestants  at  ISTismes,  in 


108  BAXTER  A^'D  HIS  TDIES, 


France,  were  threatened  with  oppressive  usage 
by  the  French  government,  Cromwell  instruct- 
ed his  embassador  at  Paris  to  insist  perempto- 
rily, that  proceedings  against  them  should  be 
dropped,  and  in  the  event  of  a  refusal,  to  leave 
Paris  immediately.  In  fact,  it  was  said  that 
Cardinal  Mazarin,  the  French  Minister,  would 
change  countenance  when  Cromwell's  name 
was  mentioned ;  and  that  it  was  almost  pro- 
verbial in  France,  that  the  Cardinal  was  more 
afraid  of  Cromwell  than  of  the  devil.  As  for 
the  Pope,  he  was  so  dreadfully  frightened  bj  a 
fleet  which  Cromwell  sent  into  the  Mediterra- 
nean, under  Blake,  to  settle  some  matters  with 
the  Duke  of  Tuscany,  that  he  commanded  pro- 
cessions to  be  made  in  Eome,  and  the  host  to 
be  exposed  for  forty  hours,  in  order  to  avert 
the  judgments  of  God,  and  save  the  Church. 
In  short  the  influence  of  English  Protestantism 
was  never  so  powerfully  felt  throughout  Eu- 
rope as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 

I  wiU  only  ask  you  to  remember,  in  addition 
to  these  facts,  that  Cromwell's  government  was 
remaikable  for  its  toleration,  and  this,  too,  in 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  109 


aa  age  wlien  toleration  was  very  little  under- 
stood ;  that  his  private  life  was  irreproachable  ; 
and  that  he  enforced  a  standard  of  morality 
throughout  the  kingdom  which  was,  unhappily 
unknown  in  the  days  of  the  Stuarts.  Eemem- 
ber  all  these  things,  and  then  I  think  you  will 
not  lightly  give  way  to  the  common  opinion 
that  Cromwell  was  a  wicked  and  hypocritical 
man.  Rest  assured  that  his  character  deserves 
far  better  treatment  than  it  has  generally  re- 
ceived hitlierto.  Eegard  him  as  one  who,  witb 
all  his  faults,  did  great  things  for  your  country. 
Let  not  those  faults  blind  your  eyes  to  the  real 
greatness  of  his  character.  Give  him  a  high 
place  in  the  list  of  great  men  before  your  mind's 
eye.  Do  this,  and  you  will  have  learned  some- 
thing from  Baxter's  times. 

There  is  one  more  feature  in  the  history  of 
Baxter's  times  which  I  feel  it  impossible  to 
pass  over.  I  allude  to  the  suicidal  blindness 
of  the  Church  of  England  under  the  Stuarts, 

T  touc'u  on  this  subject  with  some  reluctance. 
You  will  believe,  I  hope,  that  I  love  the  Church, 
of  which  I  am  a  minister,  heartily  and  sincere- 
10 


110  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


ly;  but  I  have  never  found  out  that  my 
Church  lays  claim  to  infallibility,  and  I  am 
bound  to  confess  that  in  the  times  of  the 
Stuarts  she  committed  some  tremendous  mis- 
takes. Far  be  it  from  me  to  say  that  these 
mistakes  were  chargeable  upon  all  her  mem- 
bers. Abbot,  and  Carlton,  and  Davenant,  and 
Hall,  and  Prideaux,  and  Usher,  and  Reynolds, 
and  Wilkins,  were  bright  exceptions  among 
the  bishops,  both  as  to  doctrine  and  practice. 
But,  unhappily,  these  good  men  were  always 
in  a  minority  in  the  Church  ;  and  the  manner 
in  which  the  majority  administered  the  affairs 
of  the  Church  is  the  subject  to  which  I  wish 
to  call  your  attention.  You  ought  to  know 
something  about  the  subject,  because  it  serves 
to  throw  immense  light  on  the  history  of  our 
unhappy  religious  divisions  in  this  country. 
You  ought  to  know  something  of  it  to-night 
especially,  because  it  is  one  which  is  intimately 
bound  up  with  Baxter's  life. 

One  part  of  the  suicidal  blindness  of  the 
Church,  to  which  I  have  referred,  was  its  long- 
continued  attempt  to  compel  conformity,  and 


BAXTEE  AND  HIS  TIMES.  Ill 


prohibit  private  religious  exercises,  by  pains 
and  penalties.  A  regular  crusade  was  kept  up 
against  every  body  who  infringed  its  canons, 
or  did  any  thing  contrary  to  its  rubrics.  Hun- 
dreds and  thousands  of  men,  for  many  years, 
were  summoned  before  magistrates,  fined,  im- 
prisoned, and  often  ruined ;  not  because  they 
had  offended  against  the  Gospel  or  the  Ten 
Commandments,  not  because  they  had  made 
any  open  attack  on  the  churches,  but  merely 
because  they  had  transgressed  some  wretched 
ecclesiastical  by-law,  -more  honored  in  the 
breach  than  in  the  observance  ;  or  because  they 
tried  by  quiet,  private  meetings,  to  obtain  some 
spiritual  edification  over  and  above  that  which 
the  pubUc  services  of  the  Church  provided. 
At  one  time  we  read  of  good  men  having  their 
ears  cut  off  and  their  noses  slit,  for  writing  un- 
favorably of  bishops.  This  was  the  fate  of  the 
father  of  Archbishop  Leighton.  At  another 
time  we  read  of  an  enactment  by  which  any 
one  present  at  a  meeting  of  five  or  more  per- 
sons, where  there  was  any  exercise  of  religion 
in  other  manner  than  that  allowed  by  the  lit- 


112  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


urgy  of  the  Ohurcli  of  England,  was  to  be 
fined,  or  imprisoned  for  three  months  for  the 
first  offense,  six  months  for  the  second  offense, 
and  for  the  third,  transported  for  seven  years. 
Many  were  afraid  to  have  family  prayer  if 
more  than  four  acquaintances  were  present. 
Some  families  had  scruples  about  saying  grace 
if  five  strangers  were  at  table.  Such  was  the 
state  of  England  in  the  seventeenth  century 
under  the  Stuarts. 

The  result  of  this  miserable  policy  was  just 
exactly  what  might  have  been  expected. 
There  arose  a  spirit  of  deep  discontent  on  the 
part  of  the  persecuted.  There  sprung  up 
among  them  a  feeling  of  disaffection  to  the 
Church  in  which  they  had  been  baptized,  and 
a  rooted  conviction  that  a  system  must  neces- 
sarily be  bad  in  principle  which  could  bear 
such  fruits.  Men  became  sick  of  the  very 
name  of  the  liturgy,  when  it  was  bound  up  in 
their  memories  with  a  fine  or  a  jail.  Men 
became  weary  of  episcopacy,  when  they  found 
that  bishops  were  more  frequently  a  terror  to 
good  works  than  to  evil  ones.    The  words  of 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  113 


Baxter,  in  a  striking  passage  on  this  subject  in 
his  autobiography,  are  very  remarkable : — 
"  The  more  the  bishops  thought  to  cure  schism 
by  punishment,  the  more  they  increased  the 
opinion  that  they  were  persecuting  enemies  of 
godliness,  and  the  captains  of  the  profane." 

And  "who  that  knows  human  nature  can 
wonder  at  such  a  state  of  feeling  ?  The  mass 
of  men  will  generally  judge  an  institution  by 
its  administration,  more  than  by  its  abstract 
excellences.  When  plain  Englishmen  saw 
that  a  man  might  do  any  thing  so  long  as  he 
did  not  break  an  ecclesiastical  canon  ; — when 
they  saw  that  people  might  gamble,  and  swear, 
and  get  drunk,  and  no  one  made  them  afraid, 
but  that  people  who  met  after  service  to  sing 
psalms  and  join  in  prayer  were  heavily  pun- 
ished ; — when  they  saw  that  godless,  ignorant, 
reprobate,  profligate  speudthrifts,  sat  under 
their  own  vines  and  fig-trees  in  peace,  so  long 
as  tliey  conformed  and  went  to  their  parish 
churches;  but  that  humble,  holy,  conscientious, 
Bible-reading  persons,  who  sometimes  went 
out  of  their  parishes  to  church,  were  severely 
10* 


114  BAXTEE  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


fined; — when  they  found  that  Charles  the 
Second  and  his  boon  companions  were  free  to 
waste  a  nation's  substance  in  riotous  living, 
while  the  saints  of  the  nation,  like  Baxter  and 
Jenkyn,  were  rotting  in  jails; — I  say,  when 
plain  Englishmen  saw  these  things,  they  found 
it  hard  to  love  the  Church  which  did  them. 
Yet  all  this  might  often  have  been  seen  in 
many  counties  of  England  under  the  Stuarts. 
If  this  was  not  suicidal  blindness  on  the  part 
of  the  Church  of  England,  I  know  not  what  is. 
It  was  helping  the  devil  by  driving  r^ood  men 
out  of  her  communion.  It  was  literally  bleed- 
ing herself  to  death. 

The  crowning  piece  of  folly  which  the  ma- 
jority in  the  Church  of  England  committed 
under  the  Stuarts,  was  procuring  the  Act  of 
Uniformity  to  be  enacted  in  the  year  1662. 
This,  you  must  remember,  took  place  at  the 
beginning  of  Charles  the  Second's  reign,  and 
shortly  after  the  re-establishment  of  the  mon- 
archy and  the  Church. 

This  famous  act  imposed  terms  and  condi- 
tions of  holding  ofl6.ce  on  all  ministers  of  the 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  115 


Church  of  England  which  had  never  been  im- 
posed before,  from  the  time  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. It  was  notoriously  so  framed  as  to  be 
offensive  to  the  consciences  of  the  Puritans,  and 
to  drive  them  out  of  the  Church.  For  this 
purpose  it  was  entirely  successful.  Within  a 
year  no  less  than  two  thousand  clergymen  re- 
signed their  livings  rather  than  accept  its 
terms.  Many  of  these  two  thousand  were  the 
best,  the  ablest,  and  the  holiest  ministers  of 
the  day.  Many  a  man,  who  had  been  regu- 
larly ordained  by  bishops,  and  spent  twenty 
or  thirty  years  in  the  service  of  the  Church, 
without  molestation,  was  suddenly  commanded 
to  accept  new  conditions  of  holding  prefer- 
ment, and  turned  out  to  starve,  because  he 
refused.  Sixty  of  the  leading  parishes  in  Lon- 
don were  at  once  deprived  of  their  ministers, 
and  their  congregations  left  like  sheep  without 
a  shepherd.  Taking  all  things  into  considera- 
tion, a  more  impolitic  and  disgraceful  deed 
never  disfigured  the  annals  of  a  Protestant 
church. 

It  was  a  disgraceful  deed,  because  it  was  a 


116 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES, 


flat  contradiction  to  tlie  king's  own  promise  at 
Breda,  before  lie  came  back  from  exile.  He 
was  brought  back  on  the  distinct  understand- 
ing that  the  Church  of  England  should  be  re- 
established on  such  a  broad  and  liberal  basis 
as  to  satisfy  the  conscientious  scruples  of  the 
Puritans.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  assistance 
of  the  Puritans  he  would  never  have  got  back 
at  all.  And  yet,  as  soon  as  the  reins  of  power 
were  fairly  in  the  king's  hands,  his  promise 
was  deliberately'  broken. 

It  was  a  disgraceful  deed,  because  the  great 
majority  of  the  ejected  ministers  might  easily 
have  been  retained  in  the  Church  by  a  few 
small  concessions.  They  had  no  abstract  ob- 
jection to  episcopacy,  or  to  a  liturgy.  A  few 
alterations  in  the  prayers,  and  a  moderate  lib- 
erty in  the  conduct  of  divine  worship,  accord- 
ing to  Baxter's  calculation,  would  have  satis- 
fied sixteen  hundred  out  of  the  two  thousand. 
But  the  ruling  party  were  determined  not  to 
make  a  single  concession.  They  had  no  wish 
to  keep  the  Puritans  in.  "When  some  one  ob- 
served to  Archbishop  Sheldon,  the  chief  mover 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  117 


in  the  business,  that  he  thought  many  of  the 
Puritans  would  conform,  and  accept  the  Act 
of  Uniformity,  the  Archbishop  replied,  "  I  am 
afraid  they  will."  To  show  the  spirit  of  the 
ruling  party  in  the  Church,  they  actually  add- 
ed to  the  number  of  apocryphal  lessons  in  the 
Prayer-book  calendar  at  this  time.  They  made 
it  a  matter  of  congratulation  among  themselves 
that  they  had  thrust  out  the  Puritans,  and  got 
in  Bel  and  the  Dragon. 

It  was  a  disgraceful  deed,  because  the  ejected 
ministers  were,  many  of  them,  men  of  sucb 
ability  and  attainments,  that  great  sacrifices 
ought  to  have  been  made  in  order  to  retain 
them  in  the  Church.  Baxter,  Poole,  Manton, 
Bates,  Calamy,  Brooks,  Watson,  Charnock, 
Caryl,  Howe,  Flavel,  Bridge,  Jenkyn,  Owen, 
Goodwin,  are  names  whose  praise  is  even 
now  in  all  the  churches.  The  men  who 
turned  them  out  were  not  to  be  compared  to 
them.  The  names  of  the  vast  majority  of 
them  are  hardly  known.  But  they  had  power 
on  their  side,  and  they  were  resolved  to  use 
it. 


118  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


It  was  a  disgraceful  deed,  because  it  showed 
the  world  that  the  leaders  of  the  Church  of 
England,  like  the  Bourbons  in  modern  times, 
had  learned  nothing  and  forgotten  nothing 
during  their  exile.  They  had  not  forgotten 
the  old  bad  ways  of  Laud,  which  had  brought 
such  misery  on  England.  They  had  not 
learned  that  conciliation  and  concession  are 
the  most  becoming  graces  in  the  rulers  of  a 
church,  and  that  persecution,  in  the  long  run, 
is  sure  to  be  a  losing  game. 

I  dare  not  dwell  longer  on  this  point.  I 
might  easily  bring  forward  more  illustrations 
of  this  sad  feature  in  Baxter's  times.  I  might 
tell  you  of  the  infamous  Oxford  Act,  in  1665, 
which  forbade  the  unhappy  ejected  ministers 
to  live  within  five  miles  of  any  corporate  town, 
or  of  any  place  where  they  had  formerly 
preached.  But  enough  has  been  said  to  show 
you  that  when  I  spoke  of  the  suicidal  blind» 
ness  of  the  Church  of  England,  I  did  not 
speak  without  cause.  The  consequences  of  this 
blindness  are  manifest  to  any  one  who  knows 
England.    The  divided  state  of  Protestantism 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  119 


in  this  country,  is  of  itself  a  great  fact,  wliicli 
speaks  volumes. 

Against  tlie  policy  of  the  ruling  party  in  the 
Church  of  England,  under  the  Stuarts,  I  always 
shall  protest.  I  do  not  feel  the  scruples  which 
Baxter  and  his  ejected  brethren  felt  about  the 
Act  of  Uniformity.  Much  as  I  respect  them, 
I  think  them  wrong  and  misguided  in  their 
judgments.  But  I  think  that  Archbishop 
SheWon,  and  the  men  who  refused  to  go  one 
step  to  meet  them,  were  far  more  wrong  and 
fiir  more  misguided.  I  believe  they  did  an  in- 
jury to  the  cause  of  true  religion  in  England, 
which  will  probably  never  be  repaired,  by 
sowing  the  seeds  of  endless  divisions.  They 
were  the  men  who  laid  the  foundation  of  Eng- 
lish dissent.  I  believe  they  recklessly  threw 
away  a  golden  opportunity  of  doing  good. 
They  might  easily  have  made  my  own  beloved 
Church  far  more  eflPective  and  far  more  useful 
than  she  ever  has  been,  by  wise  and  timely 
concessions.  They  refused  to  do  this,  and,  in- 
stead of  a  healing  measure,  brought  forward 
their  unhappy  Act  of  Uniformity.    I  disavow 


120 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


any  sympathj  wifh  their  proceedings,  and  can 
never  think  of  them  wdthout  the  deepest  regret, 
I  can  not  leave  the  subject  of  Baxter's  times 
without  offering  you  one  piece  of  counsel,  I 
advise  you,  then,  not  to  believe  every  thing 
you  may  happen  to  read  on  the  subject  of  the 
times  of  the  Stuarts.  There  are  no  times,  per- 
haps, about  which  prejudice  and  party-spirit 
have  so  warped  the  judgment  and  jaundiced 
the  eye-sight  of  historians.  If  any  one  want 
a  really  fair  and  impartial  history  of  the  times, 
I  strongly  advise  him  to  read  Marsden'a  "  His- 
tory of  the  Puritans."  I  regard  these  two 
volumes  as  the  most  valuable  addition  which 
has  been  made  to  our  stock  of  rehgious  history 
in  modem  times. 

n.  And  now  let  me  turn  from  Baxter's 
times  to  Baxter  himself.  Without  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  times,  you  would  hardly  under- 
stand the  character  and  conduct  of  the  man. 
A  few  plain  facts  about  the  man  will  be  more 
likely  than  any  thing  I  can  say  to  fasten  in 
your  minds  the  times. 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  121 


Kicliard  Baxter  was  the  son  of  a  small 
landed  proprietor  of  Eaton  Constantine,  in 
Shropshire,  and  was  horn,  in  1615,  at  Kowton, 
in  the  same  county,  where  Mr.  Adeney,  his 
mother's  father,  resided. 

He  seems  to  have  been  under  religious  im- 
pressions from  a  very  early  period  of  his  life, 
and  for  this,  under  God,  he  was  indebted  to 
the  training  of  a  pious  father.  Shropshire  was 
a  very  dark,  ungodly  country  in  those  days. 
The  ministers  were  generally  ignorant,  grace- 
less, and  unable  to  preach ;  and  the  people,  as 
might  be  expected,  were  profligate, ,  and  de- 
spisers  of  them  that  were  good..  Ik  Eaton 
Constantine,  the  parishioners  spent  the  greater 
part  of  the  Lord's  day  in  dancing  round  a 
Maypole  near  old  Mr.  Baxter's  door,  to  his 
great  distress  and  annoyance.  Yet  even  here 
grace  triumphed  over  the  world  in  the  case  of 
his  son,  and  he  was  added  to  the  noblest  host 
of  those  who  serve  the  Lord  from  their  youth. 

It  is  always  interesting  to  observe  the  names 
of  religious  books  when  God  is  pleased  to  use 
them  in  bringing  souls  to  the  knowledge  of  ^ 

11 


122  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


I 


himself.  The  books  which  had  the  most  eflfect 
on  Baxter,  were  Bunny's  "  Eesolution ;"  Per- 
kins "  On  Eepentance,  on  Living  and  Dying 
well,  and  on  the  Government  of  the  Tongue ;" 
Culverwell  "On  faith;"  and  Sibbs'  "Bruised 
Eeed."  Disease  and  the  prospect  of  death  did 
much  to  carry  on  the  spiritual  work  within 
him.  He  says  in  his  Autobiography,  "  Weak- 
ness and  pain  helped  me  to  study  how  to  die. 
That  set  me  on  studying  how  to  live,  and  that 
on  studying  the  doctrines  from  which  I  must 
fetch  my  motives  and  my  comforts." 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  was  ordained 
a  clergyman  by  Thornborough,  bishop  of 
Worcester.  He  had  never  had  the  advantage 
of  an  university  education.  A  free-school  at 
Wroxeter,  and  a  private  tutor  at  Ludlow,  had 
done  something  for  him ;  and  his  own  insatiable 
love  of  study  had  done  a  good  deal  more.  He, 
^probably,  entered  the  ministry  far  better  furn- 
ished with  theological  learning  than  most 
young  men  of  his  day.  He  certainly  entered 
it  with  qualifications  far  better  than  a  knowl- 
edge of  Greek  and  Hebrew.    He  entered  it 


I 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  123 


truly  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  a  con- 
verted man.  He  says  himself,  "  I  knew  that 
the  want  of  academical  honors  and  degrees 
were  Uke  to  make  me  contemptible  with  the 
most.  But  yet,  expecting  to  be  so  quickly  in 
another  world,  the  great  concernment  of  mise- 
rable souls  did  prevail  with  me  against  all  im- 
pediments. And  being  conscious  of  a  thirsty 
desire  of  men's  conscience  and  salvation,  I  re- 
solved, that  if  one  or  two  souls  only  might  be 
won  to  God,  it  would  easily  recompense  all  the 
dishonor  which,  for  want  of  titles,  I  might  un- 
dergo from  men." 

From  the  time  of  his  ordination  to  his  death, 
Baxter's  life  was  a  constant  series  of  strange 
vicissitudes,  and  intense  physical  and  mental 
exertions.  Sometimes  in  prosperity,  and  some- 
times in  adversity — sometimes  praised  and 
sometimes  persecuted — at  one  period  catechis- 
ing in  the  lanes  of  Kidderminster,  at  another 
disputing  with  bishops  in  the  Savoy  Conference 
— one  year  writing  the  "  Saint's  Rest,"  at  the 
point  of  death,  in  a  quiet  country  house,  an- 
other year  a  marching  chaplain  to  a  regiment 


124  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


in  Cromwell's  army — one  day  offered  a  bishop- 
ric by  Charles  II.,  another  cast  out  of  the 
Church  by  the  Act  of  Uniformity — one  year 
arguing  for  monarchy  with  Cromwell,  and 
telling  him  it  was  a  blessing,  another  tried  be- 
fore Jeffreys  on  a  charge  of  seditious  writing 
— one  time  living  quietly  at  Acton  in  the  so- 
ciety of  Judge  Hale,  at  another  languishing  iu 
prison  under  some  atrocious  ecclesiastical  per- 
secution— one  day  having  public  discussions 
about  infant  baptism  with  Mr.  Tombes  in 
Bewdley  Church,  another  holding  the  read- 
ing-desk of  Amersham  Church  from  morning 
to  night  against  the  theological  arguments  of 
Antinomian  dragoons  in  the  gallery — some- 
times preaching  the  plainest  doctrines,  some- 
times handling  the  most  abstruse  metaphysical 
pointS' — sometimes  writing  folio  for  the  learned, 
sometimes  writing  broad-sheets  for  the  poor — 
never,  perhaps,  did  any  Christian  minister  fill 
so  many  various  positions;  and  never,  cer- 
tainly, did  any  one  come  out  of  them  aU  with 
such  an  unblemished  reputation.  Always  suf- 
fering under  incurable  disease,  and  seldom  long 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  126 


out  of  pain — always  working  his  mind  to  the 
uttermost,  and  never  idle  for  a  day— seemingly 
overwhelmed  with  business,  and  yet  never  re- 
fusing new  work — living  in  the  midst  of  the 
most  exciting  scenes,  and  yet  holding  daUy 
converse  with  God — not  sufficiently  a  partisan 
to  satisfy  any  side,  and  yet  feared  and  courted 
by  all — too  much  of  a  Royalist  to  please  the 
Parliamentary  party,  and  yet  too  much  con- 
nected with  the  Parliament  and  too  holy  to  be 
popular  with  the  Cavaliers — too  much  of  an 
Episcopalian  to  satisfy  the  violent  portion  of 
the  Puritan  body,  and  too  much  of  a  Puritan 
to  be  trusted  by  the  bishops — never,  probably, 
did  Christian  man  enjoy  so  little  rest,  though 
serving  God  with  a  pure  conscience,  as  did 
Richard  Baxter. 

In  1638  he  began  his  ministry,  by  preach- 
ing in  the  Upper  Church  at  Dudley.  There 
he  continued  a  year.  From  Dudley  he  re- 
moved to  Bridgnorth.  There  he  continued  a 
year  and  three  quarters.  From  Bridgnorth 
he  removed  to  Kidderminster.  From  thence, 
after  two  years,  he  retired  to  Coventry,  at  the 
11* 

I 


126  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


beginning  of  the  Commonwealtli  troubles,  and 
awaited  the  progress  of  the  civil  war.  From 
Coventry,  after  the  battle  of  Naseby,  he  joined 
the  Parliamentary  army  in  the  capacity  of 
regimental  chaplain.  He  took  this  office  in 
the  vain  hope  that  he  might  do  some  good 
among  the  soldiers,  and  counteract  the  ambi- 
tious designs  of  Cromwell  and  his  friends. 
He  was  obliged  by  illness  to  give  up  his  chap- 
laincy in  1646,  and  lingered  for  some  months 
between  life  and  death  at  the  hospitable  houses 
of  Sir  John  Coke  of  Melbourne,  in  Derby- 
shire, and  Sir  Thomas  Rous  of  Rouslench,  in 
Worcestershire.  At  the  end  of  16i6  he  re- 
turned to  Kidderminster,  and  there  continued 
laboring  indefatigably  as  parish  minister  fox 
fourteen  years.  In  1660  he  left  Kiddermin- 
ster for  London,  and  took  an  active  part  in 
promoting  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  and 
was  made  one  of  the  king's  chaplains.  In 
London,  he  preached  successively  at  St.  Dun- 
stan's.  Black  Friars',  and  St.  Bride's.  Shortly 
after  this  he  was  offered  the  bishopric  of  Here- 
ford, but  thought  fit  to  refuse  it.    In  1662,  he 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  127 


was  one  of  the  two  thousand  ministers  who 
"were  turned  out  of  the  Church  by  the  Act  of 
Uniformity.  Immediately  after  his  ejection  he 
married  a  wife,  who  seems  to  have  been  every 
way  worthy  of  him,  and  who  was  spared  to 
be  his  loving  and  faithful  companion  for  nine- 
teen years.  Her  name  was  Margaret  Charlton, 
of  Apley  Castle,  in  Shropshire.  After  this  he 
lived  in  various  places  in  and  about  London — 
at  Acton,  Totteridge,  Bloomsbury,  and  at  last 
in  Charterhouse  Square.  The  disgraceful 
treatment  of  his  enemies  made  it  almost  im- 
possible for  him  to  have  any  certain  dwelling- 
place.  Once,  at  this  period  of  his  life,  he  was 
offered  a  Scotch  bishopric,  or  the  mastership 
of  a  Scotch  university,  but  declined  both 
offices.  With  few  exceptions,  the  last  twenty- 
nine  years  of  his  life  were  embittered  by  re- 
peated prosecutions,  fines,  imprisonment,  and 
harassing  controversies.  When  he  could  he 
preached,  and  when  he  could  not  preach  he 
wrote  books;  but  something  he- was  always 
doing.  The  Eevolution  and  accession  of  Wil- 
liam III.  brought  him  some  little  respite  from 


128  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


persecution,  and  death  at  last  removed  tlie 
good  old  man  to  that  place  "  where  the  wicked 
cease  from  troubling  and  the  weary  are  at 
rest,"  in  the  year  1691,  and  the  seventy-sixth 
year  of  his  age. 

Such  is  a  brief  outline  of  the  life  of  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  Puritans  who  lived  un- 
der the  Stuarts,  and  one  of  the  most  devoted 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  this  country  has  ever 
seen.  It  is  an  outline  which  you  will  readily 
believe  might  be  filled  up  to  an  indefinite 
length.  I  can  not,  of  course,  pretend  to  do 
more  than  call  your  attention  to  a  few  leading 
particulars.  If  I  do  not  tell  you  more  it  is 
not  from  want  of  matter  but  of  time.  But  if 
any  one  wishes  to  know  why  Baxter's  name 
stands  so  high  as  it  does  in  the  list  of  English 
worthies,  I  ask  him  to  listen  to  me  for  a  few 
minutes,  and  I  will  soon  show  him  cause. 

For  one  thing,  you  must  know,  Baxter  was 
a  man  of  most  eminent  personal  holiness.  Few 
men  have  ever  lived  before  the  eyes  of  the 
world  for  fifty  or  sixty  years,  as  he  did,  and 
left  so  fair  and  unblemished  a  reputation. 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  129 


Bitterly  and  cruelly  as  many  hated  him,  they 
could  find  no  fault  in  the  man,  except  as  con- 
cerning the  law  of  his  God.  He  seems  to 
have  been  holy  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  and 
in  all  the  circumstances  in  which  man  can  be 
placed — ^holy  as  a  son,  a  husband,  a  minister, 
and  a  friend — holy  in  prosperity  and  in  ad- 
versity, in  sickness  and  in  health,  in  youth  and 
in  old  age.  It  is  a  fine  saying  of  Orme,  in 
his  admirable  life  of  him,  that  he  was  in  the 
highest  sense,  a  most  "  unearthly"  man.  He 
lived  with  God,  and  Christ,  and  heaven,  and 
death,  and  judgment,  and  eternity,  continually 
before  his  eyes.  He  cared  nothing  for  the 
good  things  of  this  world :  a  bishopric,  with 
all  its  emoluments  and  honors,  had  no  charms 
for  him.  He  cared  nothing  for  the  enmity  of 
the  world :  no  fear  of  man's  displeasure  ever 
turned  him  an  inch  out  of  his  way.  He  was 
singularly  independent  of  man's  praise  or 
blame.  He  could  be  as  bold  as  a  lion  in  the 
presence  of  Cromwell,  or  Charles  II.  and  his 
bishops ;  and  yet  he  could  be  gentle  as  a  lamb 
with  poor  people  seeking  how  to  be  saved. 


130  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


He  could  be  zealous  as  a  Crusader  for  tte 
rights  of  conscience,  and  yet  he  was  of  so 
catholic  a  spirit  that  he  loved  all  who  loved 
Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity.  "  Be  it  by  Conform- 
ists or  by  Non-Conformists,"  he  would  say,  "  I 
rejoice  that  Christ  is  preached."  He  was  a 
truly  humble  man.  To  one  who  wrote  to  him 
expressing  admiration  for  his  character,  he  re- 
phed,  "  You  admire  one  you  do  not  know : 
knowledge  would  cure  your  error."  So  fair  an 
epistle  of  Christ,  considering  the  amazing  trials 
of  patience  he  had  to  go  through,  this  country 
has  seldom  seen  as  Richard  Baxter.  Young 
men,  I  charge  you  to  remember  this  point  in. 
Baxter's  character.  ISTo  argument  has  such 
lasting  power  with  the  world  as  a  holy  and 
consistent  life.  Remember  that  this  holiness 
was  attained  by  a  man  of  like  passions  with 
yourselves.  Let  Baxter  be  an  encouragement 
and  an  example.  Remember  the  Lord  God  of 
Baxter  is  not  changed. 

For  another  thing,  Baxter  was  one  of  the 
the  most  powerful  preachers  that  ever  addressed  an 
English  Congregation.    He  seems  to  have  pos- 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


131 


sessed  all  the  gifts  which  are  generally  con- 
sidered to  make  a  perfect  master  of  assemblies. 
He  had  an  amazing  fluency — an  enormoug 
store  of  matter — a  most  clear  and  lucid  style 
— an  unlimited  command  of  forcible  language 
— a  pithy,  pointed,  emphatic  way  of  presenting 
truth — a  singularly  moving  and  pathetic  voice 
— and  an  earnestness  of  manner  which  swept 
every  thing  before  it  like  a  torrent.  He  used 
to  say,  "It  must  be  serious  preaching  which 
will  make  men  serious  in  hearing  and  obey- 
ing it." 

Two  weU-known  lines  of  his  show  you  the 
man — 

"  I  '11  preach  as  though  I  ne'er  should  preach  again, 
And  as  a  dying  man  to  dying  men." 

Dr.  Bates,  a  cotemporary,  says  of  him,  "  He 
had  a  marvelous  felicity  and  copiousness  in 
speaking.  There  was  a  noble  negligence  in 
his  style.  His  great  mind  could  not  stoop  to 
the  affected  eloquence  of  words.  He  despised 
flashy  oratory.  But  his  expressions  were  so 
clear  and  powerful,  so  convincing  to  the  under- 


132  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


standing,  so  entering  into  the  soul,  so  engaging 
the  affections,  that  those  were  as  deaf  as  an. 
adder  who  were  not  charmed  by  so  wise  a 
charmer." 

The  effects  that  his  preaching  produced  were 
those  which  such  preaching  always  has  pro- 
duced and  always  will.  As  it  was  under  the 
pulpit  of  Latimer  and  Whitfield,  so  it  was  un- 
der the  pulpit  of  Baxter.  At  Dudley,  the 
poor  nailers  would  not  only  crowd  the  church, 
but  even  hang  upon  the  windows  and  the  leads 
without.  At  Kidderminster,  it  became  neces- 
sary to  build  five  new  galleries,  in  order  to  ac- 
commodate the  congregation.  In  London,  the 
crowds  who  attended  his  ministry  were  so 
large,  that  it  was  sometimes  dangerous,  and 
often  impossible,  to  be  one  of  his  hearers. 

Once  when  he  was  about  to  preach  at  St. 
Lawrence  Jewry,  he  sent  word  to  Mr.  Vines 
the  minister,  that  the  Earl  of  Suffolk  and  Lord 
Broghill  were  coming  in  a  coach  with  him, 
and  would  be  glad  to  have  seats.  But  when 
he  and  his  noble  companions  reached  the  door, 
the  crowd  had  so  little  respect  for  persons,  that 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  133 


the  two  peers  had  to  go  home  again  because 
they  could  not  get  within  hearing.  Mr.  Vines 
himself  was  obliged  to  get  up  into  the  pulpit, 
and  sit  behind  the  preacher,  from  want  of  room ; 
and  Baxter  actually  preached  standing  between 
Mr.  Vines'  feet. 

On  another  occasion,  when  he  was  preaching 
to  an  enormous  crowd  in  St.  Dunstan's,  Fleet 
Street,  he  made  a  striking  use  of  an  incident 
which  took  place  during  the  sermon.  A  piece 
of  brick  fell  down  in  the  steeple,  and  an  alarm 
was  raised  that  the  church,  an  old  and  rotten 
building,  was  falling.  Scarcely  was  the  alarm 
allayed,  when  a  bench,  on  which  some  people 
werQ  standing,  broke  with  their  weight,  and 
the  confusion  was  worse  than  ever.  Many 
crowded  to  the  doors  to  get  out,  and  all  were 
in  a  state  of  panic.  One  old  woman  was  heard 
loudly  asking  God  forgiveness  for  having  come 
to  the  church  at  all,  and  promising,  if  she  only 
got  out  safe,  never  to  come  there  again.  In 
the  midst  of  all  the  confusion  Baxter  alone 
was  calm  and  unmoved.  As  soon  as  order 
was  restored,  he  rose  and  said,  "  We  are  in  the 
12 


134  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


service  of  God  to  prepare  ourselves  that  we 
may  be  fearless  at  the  great  noise  of  the  dis- 
solving world,  when  the  heavens  shall  pass 
away,  and  the  elements  melt  with  fervent 
heat."  This  was  Baxter  all  over.  This  was 
the  kind  of  thing  he  had  not  only  grace,  but 
gifts  and  nerve,  to  do.  He  always  spoke  like 
one  who  saw  God,  and  felt  death  at  his  back. 
Such,  a  man  will  seldom  fail  to  preach  well. 
Such  a  man  will  seldom  be  in  want  of  hearers. 
Such  a  man  deserves  to  be  embalmed  in  the 
memory  of  all  who  want  to  know  what  God 
can  do  for  a  child  of  Adam  by  his  Spirit. 
Such  a  man  deserves  to  be  praised. 

For  another  thing,  you  must  know,  that 
Baxter  was  one  of  the  most  successful  pastors  of 
a  parish  and  congregation  that  ever  lived.  When 
he  came  to  Kidderminster,  he  found  it  a  dark, 
ignorant,  immoral,  irreligious  place,  contain- 
ing, perhaps,  three  thousand  inhabitants. 
When  he  left  it  at  the  end  of  fourteen  years, 
he  had  completely  turned  the  parish  upside 
down.  "  The  place  before  his  coming,"  says 
Dr.  Bates,  "  was  like  a  piece  of  dry  and  bar- 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMKS.  135 


ren  earth ;  but,  by  the  blessing  of  Heaven 
upon  bis  labor,  tbe  face  of  Paradise  appeared 
there.  The  bad  were  changed  to  good,  and 
the  good  to  better."  The  number  of  his  reg- 
xHar  communicants  averaged  six  hundred. 
"  Of  these,"  Baxter  tells  us,  "  there  were  not 
twelve  of  whom  I  had  not  good  hope  as  to 
their  sincerity."  The  Lord's  day  was  thor- 
oughly reverenced  and  observed.  It  was  said, 
"  You  might  have  heard  an  hundred  families 
singing  psalms  and  repeating  sermons  as  you 
passed  through  the  streets."  When  he  came 
there,  there  was  about  one  family  in  a  street 
which  worshiped  God  at  home.  When  he 
went  away,  there  were  some  streets  in  which 
there  was  not  more  than  one  family  on  a  side 
that  did  not  do  it :  and  this  was  the  case  even 
with  inns  and  public-houses.  Even  of  tlie  ir- 
religious families,  there  were  very  few  which 
had  not  some  converted  relations.  "Some  of 
the  poor  people  became  so  well  versed  in 
theology,  that  they  understood  the  whole  body 
of  divinity,  and  were  able  to  judge  diflQcult 
controversies.    Some  were  so  able  in  prayer. 


136  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


that  few  ministers  could  match  them  in  order, 
fullness,  apt  expressions,  holy  oratory  and  fer- 
vor. Best  of  all,  the  temper  of  their  minds 
and  the  inuocency  of  their  lives  were  much 
more  laudable  even  than  their  gifts. 

The  grand  instrument  to  which  Baxter  used 
to  attribute  this  astounding  success  was  his 
system  of  household  visitation  and  regular  pri- 
vate conference  with  his  parishioners.  No 
doubt  this  did  immense  good,  and  the  more 
so  because  it  was  a  new  thing  in  those  days. 
Nevertheless,  there  is  no  denying  the  fact  that 
the  most  elaborate  parochial  machinery  of 
modern  times  has  never  produced  such  effects 
as  those  you  have  just  heard  of  at  Kiddermin- 
ster. And  the  true  account  of  this  I  believe 
to  be,  that  no  parish  has  ever  had  such  a  won- 
derful mainspring  in  the  middle  of  it  as  Bax- 
ter was.  While  some  divines  were  wrangling 
about  the  divine  right  of  Episcopacy  or  Pres- 
bytery, or  splitting  hairs  about  reprobation  and 
free-will,  Baxter  was  always  visiting  from 
house  to  house,  and  beseeching  men,  for 
Christ's  sake,  to  be  reconciled  to  God  and  flee 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  137 


from  the  wrath  to  come.  While  '.  JiCrswere 
entangling  themselves  in  politics,  and.  burying 
their  dead  amid  the  potsherds  of  the  earth, 
Baxter  was  living  a  crucified  life  and  daily 
preaching  the  Gospel.  I  suspect  he  was  the 
best  and  wisest  pastor  that  an  English  parish 
has  ever  had,  and  a  model  that  many  of  us 
would  do  well  to  follow.  Once  more  I  say, 
have  I  not  a  right  to  tell  you  such  a  polished 
instrument  as  this  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to 
rust  in  oblivion  ?  Such  a  man  as  this  deserves 
to  be  praised. 

For  another  thing,  you  must  know  that 
Baxter  was  one  of  the  most  diligent  ilieological 
writers  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Few  have  the 
slightest  idea  of  the  immense  number  of  works 
in  divinity  which  he  wrote  in  the  fifty  years 
of  his  active  life.  It  is  reckoned  that  they 
would  fill  sixty  octavo  volumes,  comprising 
not  less  than  thirty-five  thousand  closely  print- 
ed pages.  These  works,  no  doubt,  are  not  all 
of  equal  merit,  and  many  of  them  j^robably 
will  never  repay  perusal.  Like  the  ships  from 
Tarshish,  they  contain  not  only  gold,  and  sil- 
12* 


138  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


ver,  and  ivory,  but  also  a  large  mass  of  apes 
and  peacocks.  Still,  after  every  deduction,  the 
•writings  of  Baxter  generally  contain  a  great 
mass  of  solid  truths,  and  truths  often  handled 
in  a  most  striking  and  masterly  way.  Dr. 
Barrow,  no  mean  judge,  says,  "  That  his  prac- 
tical writings  were  never  mended,  and  his  con- 
troversial ones  seldom  confuted."  Bishop 
Wilkins  declares,  "That  he  had  cultivated 
every  subject  he  had  handled — that  if  he  had 
lived  in  the  primitive  times  he  would  have 
been  one  of  the  fathers  of  the  Church,  and 
that  it  was  enough  for  one  age  to  produce  such 
a  man  as  Mr.  Baxter."  That  great  and  good 
man,  William  Wilberforce,  says,  "  His  practi- 
cal writings  are  a  treasury  of  Christian  wis- 
dom ;"  and  he  adds,  "  I  must  beg  to  class 
among  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  Church 
of  England  this  great  man,  who  was  so  shame- 
fully ejected  from  the  Church  in  1662." 

No  one  man  has  certainly  ever  written  three 
such  books  as  Baxter's  three  master-pieces, 
"  The  Saint's  Rest."*  "  The  Reformed  Pastor," 

*  The  Editions  of  this  work  heretofore  in  circulation  are 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


139 


and  "The  Call  to  the  Unconverted."  I  be- 
lieve they  have  been  made  blessings  to  thou- 
sands of  souls,  and  are  alone  sufficient  to  place 
the  author  in  the  foremost  rank  of  theological 
writers.  Of  the  "  Call  to  the  Unconverted," 
twenty  thousand  were  printed  in  one  year. 
Six  brothers  were  converted  at  one  time  by 
reading  it.  Eliot,  the  missionary  thought  so 
highly  of  it,  that  he  translated  it  into  the  In- 
dian language,  the  first  book  after  the  Bible. 
And  really,  when  you  consider  that  all  Bax- 
ter's writings  were  composed  in  the  midst  of 
intense  labor,  and  fierce  persecution,  and  often 
under  the  pressure  of  heavy  bodily  disease, 
the  wonder  is  not  only  that  he  wrote  so  much, 
but  that  so  much  of  what  he  wrote  should  be 
so  good.  Such  wonderful  diligence  and  re- 
demption of  time  the  world  has  never  seen. 
Once  more  I  say,  have  I  not  a  right  to  tell 
you  such  a  man  deserves  to  be  praised  ? 
For  another  thing,  you  must  know  that 

abridgments  only,  but  the  complete  work,  just  as  Baxter 
wrote  it  has  just  been  published  in  New  York. — Am. 
Fuilishers. 


140 


BAXTER  Aim  HIS  TIMES. 


Baxter  was  om  of  the  most  patient  martyrs  far 
conscience^  sake,  tJiat  England  has  ever  seen.  Of 
course  I  do  not  mean  that  lie  was  called  upon 
to  seal  his  faith  with  his  blood,  as  our  Protest- 
ant reformers  were.  But  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  wearing  out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  by 
persecutions  and  prisons,  as  well  as  shedding 
the  blood  of  the  saints.  There  is  a  dyino- 
daily,  which,  to  some  natures,  is  worse  even 
than  dying  at  the  stake.  If  any  thing  tries 
faith  and  patience,  I  believe  it  to  be  the  con- 
stant dropping  of  such  wearing  persecution  as 
Baxter  had  to  endure  for  nearly  the  last  twen- 
ty-nine years  of  his  life.  He  had  robbed  no 
one.  He  had  murdered  no  one.  He  had  in- 
jured no  one.  He  held  no  heresy.  He  be- 
lieved all  the  articles  of  the  Christian  faith. 
And  yet  no  thief  or  felon  in  the  present  day 
was  ever  so  shamefully  treated  as  this  good 
man.  To  tell  you  how  often  he  was  sum- 
moned, fined,  silenced,  imprisoned,  driven  from 
one  place  to  another,  would  be  an  endless 
task.  To  describe  all  the  hideous  perversions 
of  justice  to  which  he  was  subjected,  would  be 


BAXTEE  AND  HIS  TIMES.  141 


both  painful  and  unprofitable.  I  will  only 
allow  myself  to  give  one  instance,  and  tbat 
stall  be  bis  trial  before  Cbief  Justice  Jef- 
freys. 

Baxter  was  tried  before  Jeffreys  in  1685,  at 
"Westminster  Hall,  on  a  charge  of  having  pub- 
hshed  seditious  matter,  reflecting  on  the  bish- 
ops, in  a  paraphrase  on  the  New  Testament, 
which  he  had  recently  brought  out.  A  more 
unfounded  charge  could  not  have  been  made. 
The  book  is  still  extant,  and  any  one  will  see 
at  a  glance  that  the  alleged  seditious  passages 
do  not  prove  the  case.  Fox,  in  his  history  of 
James  II.'s  reign,  tells  us  plainly,  that  "  the 
real  motive  for  bringing  him  to  trial  was  the 
desire  of  punishing  an  eminent  dissenting 
teacher,  whose  reputation  was  high  among  his 
sect,  and  who  was  supposed  to  favor  the  polit- 
ical opinions  of  the  Whigs." 

A  long  and  graphic  account  of  the  trial  was 
drawn  up  by  a  bystander,  and  it  gives  so  vivid 
a  picture  of  the  administration  of  justice  in 
Baxter's  days,  that  it  may  be  useful  to  give  a 
few  short  extracts  from  it. 


142  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


From  the  very  opening  of  the  trial  it  was 
clear  which  way  the  verdict  was  intended  to 
go.  The  Lord  Chief  Justice  behaved  as  if  he 
were  counsel  for  the  prosecution,  and  not 
judge.  He  condescended  to  use  abusive  lan- 
guage toward  the  defendant,  such  as  was  more 
suited  to  Billingsgate  than  a  court  of  law. 
One  after  another  the  counsel  for  the  defense 
were  brow-beaten,  silenced,  and  put  down,  or 
else  interrupted  by  violent  invectives  against 
Baxter. 

At  one  time  the  liord  Chief  Justice  ex- 
claimed :• — This  is  an  old  rogue,  who  hath 
poisoned  the  world  with  his  Kidderminster 
doctrine.  He  encouraged  all  the  women  and 
maids  to  bring  theix  bodkins  and  thimbles  to 
carry  on  war  against  the  King  of  ever  blessed 
memory.  An  old  schismatical  knave !  A 
hypocritical  villain !" 

By-and-by  he  called  Baxter  "  an  old  block- 
head, an  unthankfal  villain,  a  conceited,  stub- 
born, fanatical  dog.  Hang  him !"  he  said, 
"this  one  old  fellow  hath  cast  more  reproaches 
on  the  constitution  and  discipline  of  our  Church 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIM"E3.  143 


than  will  be  wiped  off  for  this  Imndred  years. 
But  ri]  handle  him  for  it,  for  he  deserves  to 
be  whipped  through  the  city." 

Shortly  afterward,  when  Baxter  began  to 
say  a  few  words  on  his  own  behalf,  Jeffreys 
stopped  him,  crying  out,  "  Richard,  Richard, 
dost  thou  think  we'll  hear  thee  poison  the 
Court?  Richard,  thou  art  an  old  fellow,  an 
old  knave ;  thou  hast  written  books  enough 
to  load  a  cart,  every  one  as  full  of  sedition — I 
might  say  treason,  as  an  egg  is  full  of  meat. 
Hadst  thou  been  whipped  out  of  thy  writing 
trade  forty  years  ago,  it  had  been  happy. 
Thou  pretendest  to  be  a  preacher  of  the  gospel 
of  peace,  and  thou  hast  one  foot  in  the  grave ; 
it  is  time  for  thee  to  think  what  kind  of  an 
account  thou  intendest  to  give.  But  leave 
thcc  to  thyself  and  I  see  thou  wilt  go  on  as 
thou  hast  begun !  but,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I 
will  look  after  thee.  I  know  thou  hast  a 
miglity  party,  and  I  see  a  great  many  of  the 
brotherhood  in  comers,  waiting  to  see  what 
will  become  of  this  mighty  dove  ;  but,  by  the 
grace  of  God  Almighty,  I'll  crush  you  all  I 


144  BAXTER  AKD  HIS  TIMES. 


Come,  what  do  you  say  for  yourself,  you  old 
knave  ?    Come,  speak  up  !" 

All  this,  and  much  more  of  the  same  kind, 
and  even  worse,  went  on  at  Baxter's  trial. 
The  extracts  I  have  given  form  but  a  small 
portion  of  the  whole  account. 

It  is  needless  to  say,  that  in  such  a  court  as 
this  Baxter  was  at  once  found  guilty.  He  was 
fined  five  hundred  marks,  which  it  was  known 
he  could  not  pay — condemned  to  lie  in  prison 
till  he  paid  it,  and  bound  over  to  good  be- 
havior for  seven  years.  And  the  issue  of 
the  matter  was,  that  this  poor,  old,  diseased, 
childless  widower,  of  threescore  years  and  ten, 
lay  for  two  years  in  Southwark  jail. 

It  is  needless,  I  hope,  to  tell  you,  in  the 
year  1853,  that  such  a  trial  as  this  was  a  dis- 
grace to  the  judicial  bench  of  England,  and  a 
stm  greater  disgrace  to  those  persons  with 
whom  the  information  originated,  understood 
commonly  to  have  been  Sherlock  and  L'Es- 
trange.  Thank  God !  I  trust  England,  at  any 
rate,  has  bid  a  long  farewell  to  such  trials  as 
these,  whatever  may  be  done  in  Italy !  Wretch- 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  145 


ed,  indeed,  is  that  country  where  low,  sneak- 
ing informers  are  encouraged; — where  the 
terrors  of  the  law  are  directed  more  against 
holiness,  and  scriptural  religion,  and  freedom 
of  thought,  than  against  vice  and  immorality  ; 
and  where  the  seat  of  justice  is  used  for  the 
advancement  of  political  purposes,  or  the  grat- 
ification of  petty  ecclesiastical  spite  I 

But  it  is  right  that  you  should  know  that 
under  all  this  foul  injustice  and  persecution, 
Baxter's  grace  and  patience  never  failed  him. 
"  These  things,"  he  said,  in  Westminster  Hall, 
"will  surely  be  understood  one  day,  what 
fools  one  sort  of  Protestants  are  made  to  per- 
secute the  other."  When  he  was  reviled,  he 
reviled  not  again.  He  returned  blessing  for 
cursing,  and  prayer  for  ill-usage.  Few  mar- 
tyrs have  ever  glorified  God  so  much  in  their 
one  day's  fire  as  Kichard  Baxter  did  for  twen- 
ty years  under  the  ill  usage  of  the  so-called 
Protestants  1  Once  more,  I  say,  have  I  not  a 
right  to  tell  you  such  a  man  as  this  deserves 
to  be  remembered  ?  Such  a  man  deserves  to 
be  praised. 

13 


146 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


And  now  I  hope  you  will  consider  I  Lave 
proved  my  case.  I  trust  you  will  allow  that 
there  are  men  who  lived  in  times  long  gone 
by,  whose  character  it  is  useful  to  review,  and 
that  Baxter  is  undeniably  one  of  them — a  real- 
man — a  true  spiritual  hero. 

I  do  not  ask  you  to  regard  him  as  a  perfect 
and  faultless  being,  any  more  than  Cranmer, 
or  Calvin,  or  Knox,  or  Wesley.  I  do  not  at 
all  defend  some  of  Baxter's  doctrinal  state- 
ments. He  tried  to  systematize  things  which 
can  not  be  systematized,  and  he  failed.  You 
will  not  find  such  a  clear,  full  gospel  in  his 
writings,  as  in  those  of  Owen,  and  Bridge,  and 
Traill.  I  do  not  think  he  was  always  right  in 
his  judgment.  I  regard  his  refusal  of  a  bish- 
opric as  a  huge  mistake.  By  that  refusal  he 
rejected  a  glorious  opportunity  of  doing  good. 
Had  Baxter  been  on  the  episcopal  bench,  and 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  I  do  not  believe  the 
Act  of  Uniformit}'  would  ever  have  passed. 

But,  in  a  world  like  this  you  must  take  true 
Christians  as  they  are,  and  be  thankfid  for 
what  they  are.    It  is  not  given  to  mortal  man 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  147 


to  be  faultless.  Take  Baxter  for  all  together, 
and  there  are  few  English  ministers  of  the 
Gospel  whose  names  deserve  to  stand  higher 
than  his.  Some  have  excelled  h  im  in  some  gifts, 
and  some  in  others.  But  it  is  seldom  that  so 
many  gifts  are  to  be  found  united  in  one  man 
as  they  are  in  Baxter.  Eminent  personal  ho- 
liness— 'amazing  power  as  a  preacher — unri- 
valed pastoral  skill — indefatigable  diligence 
as  a  writer — meekness  and  patience  under  un- 
deserved persecution — all  meet  together  in  the 
character  of  this  one  man.  Place  him  high  in 
your  list  of  great  and  good  men.  Give  him  the 
honor  he  deserves.  Reckon  it  no  small  thing 
to  be  the  fellow-countryman  of  Richard  Baxter. 

And  here  let  me  remark  that  few  bodies  of 
men  are  under  greater  obligation  to  Baxter 
and  his  friends  than  the  body  I  have  the  honor 
to  address  this  night — the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association. 

You  are  allowed  to  associate  together  upon 
evangelical  principles,  and  for  religious  ends, 
and  no  one  hinders  you.  You  are  allowed  to 
meet  in  large  numbers,  and  take  sweet  counsel 


148  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


with  one  another,  and  strengthen  one  another's 
hands  in  the  service  of  Christ,  and  no  one  in- 
terferes to  prevent  you.  You  are  allowed  to 
assemble  for  devotional  purposes,  to  read  the 
Word  of  God,  and  stir  one  another  up  to  per- 
severance in  the  faith,  in  the  midst  of  this 
great  Babylon,  and  no  one  dares  to  prohibit 
you.  How  great  are  all  these  privileges  1 
How  incalculable  the  benefit  of  union,  confer- 
ence, sympathy,  and  encouragement  to  a 
young  man  launching  forth  on  the  stormy 
waters  of  this  great  city !  Happy  are  the 
cities  where  such  institutions  exist!  Happy 
are  the  young  men  whom  God  inclines  to  join 
them  I  Blessed  is  the  labor  of  those  by  whose 
care  and  attention  these  institutions  are  kept 
together!  They  are  sowing  precious  seed. 
They  may  sow  with  much  toil  and  discour- 
agement, but  they  may  be  sure  they  are  sowing 
seed  which  shall  yet  bear  fruit  after  many  days. 

But  never,  never  forget  to  whom  you  are 
indebted  for  all  this  liberty  of  conference  and 
association  which  you  enjoy.  Never  forget 
that  there  was  a  time  when  informers  would 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  149 


have  tracked  all  your  steps — when  constables 
and  soldiers  would  have  rudely  broken  up 
your  gatherings  at  Gresham  Street,  Saville 
Row,  and  Exeter  Hall,  and  when  your  pro- 
ceedings would  have  entailed  upon  you  pains, 
penalties,  fines,  and  imprisonments.  Never 
forget  that  the  happy  and  profitable  freedom 
which  you  enjoy  was  only  won  by  long-con- 
tinued and  intense  struggles,  by  the  blood  and 
sufferings  of  noble-minded  men,  of  whom  the 
world  was  not  worthy ;  and  never  forget  that 
the  men  who  won  this  freedom  for  you  was 
those  much-abused  men — the  Puritans. 

Yes !  you  all  owe  a  debt  to  the  Puritans, 
which,  I  trust,  you  will  never  refuse  to  ac- 
knowledge. You  live  in  days  when  many  are 
disposed  to  run  them  down.  As  you  travel 
through  life,  you  will  often  bear  them  derided 
and  abused  as  seditious,  rebellious  levelers  in 
the  things  of  Caesar,  and  ignorant,  fanatical, 
hypocritical  enthusiasts  in  the  things  of  God. 
You  will  often  hear  some  semi-popish  strip- 
ling, fresh  from  Oxford,  puffed  up  with  new- 
fledged  views  of  what  he  calls  "  apostolical 
13* 


150  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


succession,"  and  proud  of  a  little  official  au- 
thority, depreciating  and  sneering  at  the  Puri- 
tans, as  men  alike  destitute  of  learning  and 
true  religion,  while,  in  reality,  he  is  scarcely 
worthy  to  sit  at  their  feet,  and  carry  their 
books.  To  all  such  calumnies  and  false  state- 
ments, I  trust  you  will  never  give  heed. 

Settle  it  down  in  your  minds  that  for  sound 
doctrine,  spirituality,  and  learning  combined, 
the  Puritans  stand  at  the  head  of  English  di- 
vines. Settle  it  down  in  your  minds,  that, 
with  all  their  faults,  weaknesses,  and  defects, 
they  alone  kept  the  lamp  of  pure,  evangelical 
religion  burning  in  this  country  in  the  times  of 
the  Stuarts — they  alone  prevented  Laud's 
popish  inclinations  carrying  England  back 
into  the  arms  of  Kome.  Settle  it  down  in 
your  minds  that  they  fought  the  battle  of  re- 
ligious freedom,  of  which  we  are  reaping  such 
fruits — that  they  crushed  the  wretched  spirit 
of  inquisitorial  persecution  which  misguided 
high-Churchmen  tried  to  introduce  into  this 
land.  Give  them  the  honor  they  deserve. 
Suffer  no  man  to  speak  lightly  of  them  in 


BAXTEK  AND  HIS  TIMES.  151 


your  presence.  Remember  your  obligations 
to  them.  Reverence  their  memory.  Stand 
up  boldly  for  their  reputation.  Never  be 
afraid  to  plead  their  cause.  It  is  the  cause  of 
pure,  evangelical  religion.  It  is  the  cause  of 
an  open  Bible,  and  liberty  to  meet,  and  read, 
and  pray  together.  It  is  the  cause  of  liberty 
of  conscience.  All  these  are  bound  up  with 
Baxter  and  the  Puritans.  Remember  this, 
and  give  them  their  due. 

And  now  let  me  conclude  this  lecture  by 
telUng  you  that  Baxter's  last  days  were  almost 
as  remarkable  as  any  in  his  life.  He  went 
down  to  his  grave  as  calmly  and  peacefully  as 
the  setting  sun  in  summer.  His  deathbed 
was  a  glorious  deathbed  indeed. 

I  like  to  know  how  great  men  die.  I  am 
not  satisfied  with  knowing  that  men  are  great 
in  the  plenitude  of  riches  and  honor.  I  want 
to  know  whether  they  were  great  in  view  of 
the  tomb.  I  do  not  want  merely  to  know  how 
men  meet  kings,  and  bishops,  and  parliaments ; 
I  want  to  Imow  how  they  meet  the  king  of 
terrors,  and  how  they  feel  in  the  prospect  of 


152  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


standing  before  the  King  of  kings.  I  suspect 
tliat  greatness  whicli  forsakes  a  man  at  last. 
I  like  to  know  how  great  men  die,  and  I  may 
be  allowed,  I  hope,  to  dwell  for  a  few  moments 
on  Baxter's  death. 

Few  deathbeds,  perhaps,  were  ever  more 
truly  instructive  than  that  of  this  good  old 
Puritan.  His  friend,  Dr.  Bates,  has  given  a 
ftill  description  of  it,  and  I  think  a  few  facts 
drawn  from  it  may  prove  a  suitable  conclusion 
to  this  evening's  lecture. 

Baxter's  last  illness  found  him  quietly  living 
in  Charterhouse  Square,  close  to  the  meeting- 
house of  his  friend,  Dr.  Sylvester.  Here  for 
the  fotir  years  preceding  his  death,  he  was 
allowed  to  enjoy  great  quietness.  The  liberty 
of  preaching  the  things  concerning  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  no  man  forbidding  him,  was  at 
length  fully  conceded,  "Here,"  says  Dr. 
Calamy,  "he  used  to  preach  with  great  free- 
dom about  another  world,  like  one  that  had 
been  there,  and  was  come  as  a  sort  of  express 
to  make  a  report  of  it."  The  storm  of  perse- 
cution was  at  length  over.    The  winds  and 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


153 


waves  tbat  had  so  long  burst  over  him  were  at 
last  lulled.  The  saintly  old  Puritan  was  mer- 
cifully allowed  to  go  down  to  the  banks  of 
Jordan  in  a  great  calm. 

He  continued  to  preach  so  long,  notwith- 
standing his  wasted  body,  that  the  last  time  he 
almost  died  in  the  pulpit.  When  disease  com- 
pelled him  to  give  over  his  beloved  work,  and 
take  to  his  dying  bed,  it  found  him  the  same 
man  that  he  had  been  for  fifty  years.  Hia 
last  hours  were  spent  in  preparing  others  and 
himself  to  meet  God.  He  said  to  the  friends 
who  visited  him,  "  You  come  hither  to  learn 
to  die.  I  am  not  the  only  person  that  must  go 
this  way.  Have  a  care  of  this  vain  and  de- 
ceitful world,  and  the  lust  of  the  flesh.  Be 
sure  you  choose  God  for  your  portion,  heaven 
for  your  home,  God's  glory  for  your  end, 
God's  word  for  your  rule,  and  then  you  need 
never  fear  but  we  shall  meet  again  with  com- 
fort." 

Never  was  penitent  sinner  more  humble, 
and  never  was  sincere  believer  more  calm  and 
comfortable.    He  said,  "  God  may  justly  con- 


154  BAXTER  Am>  HIS  TIMES 


demn  me  for  tlie  best  duty  I  ever  did ;  and  all 
my  hopes  are  from  the  free  mercy  of  God  in 
Christ."  He  had  often  said  before,  "I  can 
more  readily  believe  that  God  will  forgive  me, 
than  I  can  forgive  myself." 

After  a  slumber,  he  waked  saying,  "  I  shall 
rest  from  my  labors."  A  minister  present  said, 
"  And  your  works  will  follow  you."  He  re- 
plied, "  No  works ;  I  will  leave  out  works,  if 
God  will  grant  me  the  other."  When  a  friend 
comforted  him  with  the  remembrance  of  the 
good  many  had  received  from  his  writings,  he 
replied,  "  I  was  but  a  pen  in  God's  hand,  and 
"what  praise  is  due  to  a  pen  ?" 

When  extremity  of  pain  made  him  long  for 
death,  he  would  check  himself  and  say,  "It  is 
not  fit  for  me  to  prescribe :  when  Thou  wilt — • 
— ^what  Thou  wilt — ^how  Thou  wilt !"  Being 
in  great  anguish,  he  said,  "How  unsearchable 
are  his  ways !"  and  then  he  said  to  his  friends, 
"  do  not  think  the  worse  of  religion  for  what 
you  see  me  suffer." 

Being  often  asked  by  his  friend  how  it  was 
■vsith  his  inward  man,  he  replied,  "I  have  a  well- 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES,  155 


grounded  assurance  of  my  eternal  happiness, 
and  great  peace  and  comfort  within  ;  but  it  is 
my  trouble  that  I  can  not  triumphantly  express 
it,  by  reason  of  extreme  pain."  He  added, 
"  Flesh  must  perish,  and  "we  must  feel  the  per- 
ishing ;  and  though  my  judgment  submit, 
sense  will  make  me  groan." 

Being  asked  by  a  nobleman  whether  he  had 
great  joy  from  his  believing  apprehension  of 
the  invisible  state,  he  replied,  "  What  else, 
think  you,  Christianity  serves  for?"  And 
then  he  added,  "  that  the  consideration  of  the 
Deity,  in  his  glory  and  greatness,  was  too  high 
for  our  thoughts;  but  the  consideration  of  the 
Son  of  God  in  our  nature,  and  of  the  saints  in 
heaven  whom  we  knew  and  loved,  did  much, 
sweeten  and  familiarize  heaven  to  him."  The 
description  of  heaven  in  the  12  th  chapter  of 
Hebrews,  beginning  with  the  "innumerable 
company  of  angels,"  and  ending  with  "Jesus 
the  Mediator,  and  the  blood  of  sprinkling," 
was  very  comfortable  to  him.  "  That  scrip- 
ture," he  said,  "  deserves  a  thousand  thousand 
thoughts  1"   And  then  he  added,  "Oh!  how 


156  BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


comfortable  is  that  promise,  '  Eye  has  not  seen, 
nor  ear  heard,  neither  hath  it  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man  to  conceive,  the  things  God  hath 
laid  up  for  them  that  love  him  !' " 

At  another  time  he  said,  "  That  he  found 
great  comfort  and  sweetness  in  repeating  the 
words  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  was  sorry  that 
some  good  men  were  prejudiced  against  the 
■use  of  it;  for  there  were  aU  necessary  petitions 
for  soul  and  body  contained  in  it." 

He  gave  excellent  counsel  to  young  minis' 
ters  who  visited  him  on  his  deathbed.  He 
used  to  pray  earnestly  "  that  God  would  bless 
their  labors,  and  make  them  very  successful  in 
converting  many  souls  to  Christ."  He  ex- 
pressed great  joy  in  the  hope  that  God  would 
do  a  great  deal  of  good  by  them,  and  that  they 
would  be  of  moderate,  peaceful  spirits. 

He  did  not  forget  the  world  he  was  leaving. 
He  frequently  prayed  "that  God  would  be 
merciful  to  this  miserable,  distracted  world ; 
and  that  he  would  preserve  his  Church  and  in- 
terest in  it." 

He  advised  his  friends  "to  beware  of  self- 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  157 


conceitedness  as  a  sin  lilcely  to  ruin  this  na- 
tion," Being  asked  at  tlie  same  time  wlietlaer 
he  had  altered  his  mind  in  controversial  points, 
he  replied,  "  Those  that  please  may  know  my 
mind  in  my  writings.  What  I  have  done  was 
not  for  my  own  reputation,  but  the  glory  of 
God." 

The  day  before  he  died,  Dr.  Bates  visited 
him ;  and  on  his  saying  some  words  of  com- 
fort, he  replied,  "  I  have  pain — there  is  no  ar- 
guing against  sense ;  but  I  have  peace — I  have 
peace!"  Bates  told  him  he  was  going  to  his 
long-desired  home.  He  answered,  "  I  believe 
— believe  !"  He  expressed  great  willingness 
to  die.  During  his  sickness,  when  the  question 
was  asked  how  he  did,  his  reply  was,  "Almost 
well !"  or  else,  "  Better  than  I  deserve  to  be, 
but  not  so  well  as  I  hope  to  be."  His  last 
words  were  addressed  to  Dr.  Sylvester,  "  The 
Lord  teach  you  how  to  die  I" 

On  Tuesday  the  8th  of  December,  1691, 
Baxter's  warfare  was  accomplished ;  and  at 
length  he  entered  what  he  had  so  beautifully 
described — the  saint's  everlasting  rest. 

14 


158 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


He  was  buried  at  Christcliurcli,  amid  the 
tears  of  many  who  knew  his  worth,  if  the 
world  and  the  Estabhshed  Church  of  that  day 
did  not.  The  funeral  was  that  kind  of  funeral 
which  is  above  all  in  real  honor :  "  devout 
men  carried  him  to  his  grave,  and  made  great 
lamentation  over  him." 

He  left  no  family,  but  he  left  behind  him 
hundreds  of  spiritual  sons  and  daughters.  He 
left  works  which  are  still  owned  by  God  in 
every  part  of  the  world  to  the  awakening  and 
edification  of  immortal  souls.  Thousands,  I 
doubt  not,  will  stand  up  in  the  morning  of  the 
resurrection,  and  thank  God  for  the  grace  and 
gifts  bestowed  on  the  old  Puritan  of  Shrop- 
shire. He  left  a  name  which  must  always  be 
dear  to  every  lover  of  holiness,  and  every 
friend  of  religious  liberty.  No  Englishman, 
perhaps,  ever  exemplified  the  one,  or  promoted 
the  other,  more  truly  and  really  than  did 
Eichard  Baxter. 

Let  me  conclude  by  quoting  the  last  para- 
graph of  Dr.  Bates'  funeral  sermon  on  the  oc- 
casion of  Baxter's  death: — "Blessed  be  the 


BAXTER  AND  HIS  TIMES.  159 


gracious  God,  that  lie  was  pleased  to  prolong 
the  life  of  his  servant,  so  useful  and  beneficial 
to  the  world,  to  a  full  age,  and  that  he  brought 
him  slowlj  and  safely  to  heaven.  I  shall  con- 
clude this  account  with  my  own  deliberate 
wish  :  May  I  live  the  short  remainder  of  my 
life  as  entirely  to  the  glory  of  God  as  he  lived ; 
and  when  I  shall  come  to  the  period  of  my 
life,  may  I  die  in  the  same  blessed  peace 
wherein  he  died ;  may  I  be  with  him  in  the 
kingdom  of  light  and  love  forever." 


London,  February  1,  1853, 


i 


Ill 

LIFE  AND  LABORS 

OF 


1 


III. 


There  are  some  men  in  the  pages  of  his- 
tory, whose  greatness  no  person  of  common, 
sense  thinks  of  disputing.  They  tower  above 
the  herd  of  mankind,  hke  the  Pyramids,  the 
Parthenon,  and  the  Colosseum,  among  build- 
ings. Such  men  were  Luther  and  Augustine, 
Gustavus  Adolphus  and  George  Washington, 
Columbus  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton.  He  who 
questions  their  greatness  must  be  content  to  be 
thought  very  ignorant,  very  prejudiced,  or 
very  eccentric.  Pubhc  opinion  has  come  to  a 
conclusion  about  them — they  were  great  men. 

But  there  are  also  great  men  whose  reputa- 
tion lies  buried  under  a  heap  of  cotemporary 
ill-will  and  misrepresentation.  The  world  does 
not  appreciate  them,  because  the  world  does 


164  LIFE  AND  LABOBS  OF 


not  know  their  real  wortli.  Their  characters 
have  come  down  to  us  through  poisoned  chan- 
nels. Their  portraits  have  been  drawn  by  the 
ill-natured  hand  of  enemies.  Their  faults  have 
been  exaggerated.  Their  excellences  have 
been  maliciously  kept  back  and  suppressed. 
Like  the  famous  sculptures  of  Nineveh,  they 
need  the  hand  of  some  literary  Layard  to  clear 
away  the  rubbish  that  has  accumulated  round 
their  names,  and  show  them  to  the  world  in 
their  fair  proportions.  Such  men  were  VigU- 
antius  and  Wickliffe.  Such  men  were  Oliver 
Cromwell  and  many  of  the  Puritans.  And 
such  a  man  was  George  Whitefield. 

There  are  few  men  whose  characters  have 
suffered  so  much  from  ignorance  and  misrep- 
resentation of  the  truth  as  "WTiitefield's. 

That  he  was  a  famous  Methodist,  and  ally 
of  John  Wesley,  in  the  last  century ;  that  he 
was  much  run  after  by  ignorant  people,  for 
his  preaching ;  that  many  thought  him  an  en- 
thusiast and  fanatic ;  all  this  is  about  as  much 
as  most  Englishmen  know. 

But  that  he  was  one  of  the  principal  cham- 


GEOKGE  WHITEFIELD, 


165 


pions  of  evangelical  religion  in  the  eighteenth 
centur}'  in  our  own  country ;  that  he  was  one 
of  the  most  powerful  and  effective  preachers 
that  ever  lived ;  that  he  was  a  man  of  extra- 
ordinary singleness  of  eye,  and  devotedness  to 
the  interests  of  true  religion ;  that  he  was  a 
regularly  ordained  clergyman  of  the  Church 
of  England,  and  would  always  have  worked 
in  the  Church,  if  the  Church  had  not,  most 
unwisely,  shut  him  out ;  all  these  are  things, 
of  which  few  people  seem  aware.  And  yet, 
after  calm  examination  of  his  life  and  writings, 
I  am  satisfied  this  is  the  true  account  that 
ought  to  be  given  of  George  Whitefield. 

My  chief  desire  is  to  assist  in  forming  a  just 
estimate  of  Whitefield's  worth.  I  wish  to 
lend  a  helping  hand  toward  raising  his  name 
from  the  undeservedly  low  place  which  is 
commonly  assigned  to  it.  I  wish  to  place  him 
before  your  eyes  as  a  noble  specimen  of  what 
the  grace  of  God  can  enable  one  man  to  do. 
I  want  you  to  treasure  up  his  name  in  your 
memories,  as  one  of  the  brightest  in  that  com- 
pany of  departed  saints  who  were,  in  their  day, 


166  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


patterns  of  good  works,  and  of  wlioni  the 
world  was  not  worthy. 

I  propose,  therefore,  without  further  preface, 
to  give  you  a  hasty  sketch  of  Whitefield's 
tvmesy  Whitefield's  life,  Whitefield's  religion, 
Whitefield's  preaching,  and  Whitefield's  actual 
work  on  earth. 

1.  The  story  of  Whitefield's  times  is  one 
that  should  often  be  told.  Without  it  no  body 
is  qualified  to  form  an  opinion  either  as  to  the 
man  or  his  acts.  Conduct  that  in  one  kind  of 
times  may  seem  rash,  extravagant,  and  indis- 
creet, in  another  may  be  wise,  prudent,  and 
even  absolutely  necessary.  In  forming  your 
opinion  of  the  comparative  merits  of  Christian 
men,  never  forget  the  old  rule  :  "  Distinguish 
between  times."  Place  yourself  in  each  man's 
position.  Do  not  judge  what  was  a  right 
course  of  action  in  other  times,  by  what  seems 
a  right  course  of  action  in  your  own. 

Now,  the  times  when  Whitefield  lived  were, 
unquestionably,  the  worst  times  that  have  ever 
been  known  in  this  country,  since  the  Protest- 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


167 


ant  Reformation.  There  never  was  a  greater 
mistake  than  to  talk  of  "  the  good  old  times." 
The  times  of  the  eighteenth  century,  at  any 
rate,  were  "bad  old  times,"  unmistakably. 
"Whitefield  was  born  in  1714.  He  died  in 
1770.  It  is  not  saying  too  much  to  assert,  that 
this  was  precisely  the  darkest  age  that  England 
has  passed  through  in  the  last  three  hundred 
years.  Any  thing  more  deplorable  than  the 
condition  of  the  country,  as  to  religion,  moral- 
ity, and  high  principle,  from  1700  to  about  the 
era  of  the  French  Revolution,  it  is  very  diffi- 
CTilt  to  conceive. 

The  state  of  religion  in  the  Established 
Church  can  only  be  compared  to  that  of  a  fro- 
zen or  palsied  carcass.  There  were  the  time- 
honored  formularies  which  the  wisdom  of  the 
Reformers  had  provided.  There  were  the  serv- 
ices and  lessons  from  Scripture,  just  in  the 
same  order  as  we  have  them  now.  But  as  to 
preaching  the  Gospel  in  the  Established 
Church,  there  was  almost  none.  The  distin- 
guishing doctrines  of  Christianity — the  atone- 
ment, the  work  and  ofl&ce  of  Christ  and  the 


168 


LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


Spirit — were  comparatively  lost  siglit  of.  The 
vast  majority  of  sermons  were  miserable  mor- 
al essays,  utterly  devoid  of  any  thing  calculat- ' 
ed  to  awaken,  convert,  save  or  sanctify  souls. 
The  curse  of  black  Bartholomew-day  seemed  to 
rest  upon  our  Church.  For  at  least  a  century  after 
casting  out  two  thousand  of  the  best  ministers 
in  England,  our  Establishment  never  prospered. 

There  were  some  learned  and  conscientious 
bishops  at  this  era,  beyond  question.  Such 
men  were  Seeker,  and  Gibson,  and  Lowth,  and 
Warburton,  and  Butler,  and  Home.  But 
even  the  best  of  them  sadly  misunderstood 
the  requirements  of  the  day  they  lived  in. 
They  spent  their  strength  in  writing  apologies 
for  Christianity,  and  contending  against  infi- 
dels. They  could  not  see  that,  without  the 
direct  preaching  of  the  essential  doctrines  of 
Christ's  Gospel,  their  labors  were  all  in  vain. 
And,  as  to  the  majority  of  the  bishops,  they 
were  potent  for  negative  evil,  but  impotent  for 
positive  good;  giants  at  stopping  what  they 
thought  disorder,  but  infants  at  devising  any 
thing  to  promote  real  order ;  mighty  to  repress 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD.  169 


over-zealous  attempts  at  evangelization,  but 
weaV  to  put  in  action  any  remedy  for  the  evils 
of  the  age ;  eagle-eyed  at  detecting  any  un- 
happy wight  who  trod  on  the  toes  of  a  rubric 
or  canon,  but  blind  as  bats  to  the  flood  of  in- 
dolence and  false  doctrine  with  which  their 
dioceses  were  every  where  deluged. 

That  there  were  many  well-read,  respectable 
and  honorable  men  among  the  parochial  cler- 
gy at  this  period,  it  would  be  wrong  to  deny. 
But  few,  it  is  to  be  feared,  out  of  the  whole 
number,  preached  Christ  crucified  in  simplicity 
and  sincerity.  Many  whose  lives  were  decent 
and  moral,  were  notoriously  Arians,  if  not 
Socinians.  Many  were  totally  engrossed  in 
secular  pursuits ;  they  neither  did  good  them- 
selves, nor  liked  any  one  else  to  do  it  for  them. 
They  hunted ;  they  shot ;  they  drank ;  they 
swore ;  they  fiddled ;  they  farmed ;  they  toast- 
ed Churcli  and  King,  and  thought  little  or  no- 
thing about  saving  souls.  And  as  for  the  man 
who  d;ired  to  preach  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible, 
the  Articles,  and  the  Homilies,  he  was  sure  to 
be  set  down  as  an  enthusiast  and  fanatic. 


170  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


The  state  of  religion  among  the  Dissenters 
was  only  a  few  degrees  better  than  the  state 
of  the  Chiirch,  The  toleration  which  they  en- 
joyed from  William  the  Third's  time  was  cer- 
tainly productive  of  a  very  bad  spiritual  effect 
on  them  as  a  body.  As  soon  as  they  ceased 
to  be  persecuted,  they  appear  to  have  gone  to 
sleep.  The  Baptist  and  Independent  could 
still  point  to  Gill,  and  Guyse,  and  Doddridge, 
and  "Watts,  and  a  few  more  like-minded  men. 
But  the  English  Presbyterians  were  fast  lapsing 
into  Socinianism.  And  as  to  the  great  majority 
of  nonconformists,  it  is  vain  to  deny  that  they 
were  very  different  men  from  Baxter,  and 
Flavel,  and  Gurnall,  and  Traill.  A  genera- 
tion of  preachers  arose  who  were  very  ortho- 
dox, but  painfully  cold;  very  conscientious, 
but  very  wanting  in  spirituality;  very  con- 
stant in  their  objections  to  the  Established 
Church,  but  very  careless  about  spreading 
vital  Christianity. 

I  deeply  feel  the  dif6icu.lty  of  conveying  a 
correct  impression  of  thetimes  when  Whitefield 
lived.   I  dislike  over-statement  as  much  as 


GEORGE  -WHTrEFIELD.  171 


any  one,  but  I  am  thorouglily  persuaded  it  is 
not  easy  to  make  an  over-statement  on  this 
brancli  of  my  subject. 

These  were  the  times  when  the  highest  per- 
sonages in  the  realm  lived  openly  in  ways 
which  were  flatly  contrary  to  the  law  of  God, 
and  no  man  rebuked  them,  No  courts,  I  sup- 
pose, can  be  imagined  more  diametrically  un- 
like than  the  courts  of  George  I.  and  George 
n.,  and  the  court  of  Queen  Victoria. 

These  were  the  times  when  profligacy  and 
irreligion  were  reputable  and  respectable 
things.  Judging  from  the  description  we  have 
of  men  and  manners  in  those  days,  a  gentle- 
man might  have  been  defined  as  a  creature 
who  got  drunk,  gambled,  swore,  fought  duels, 
and  broke  the  seventh  commandment  inces- 
santly. And  for  all  this  no  one  thought  the 
worse  of  him. 

These  were  the  days  when  the  men  whom 
kings  dehghted  to  honor  were  Bolingbroke, 
Chesterfield,  "Walpole,  and  ISTewcastle.  To  be 
an  infidel  or  a  skeptic,  to  obtain  power  by  in- 
trigue, and  to  retain  power  by  the  grossest  and 


172  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


most  notorious  bribery,  were  considered  no 
disqualifications  at  this  era.  Sucli  was  the 
utter  want  of  religion,  morality,  and  high  prin- 
ciple in  the  land,  that  men  such  as  these  were 
not  only  tolerated,  but  praised. 

These  were  the  days  when  Hume,  the  his- 
torian, put  forth  his  work,  became  famous,  and 
got  a  pension.  He  was  notoriously  an  infidel. 
These  were  the  days  when  Sterne  and  Swift 
■wrote  their  clever,  but  most  indecent  produc- 
tions. Both  were  clergymen,  and  high  in  the 
Church ;  but  the  public  saw  no  harm.  These 
were  the  days  when  Fielding  and  SmoUet  were 
the  popular  authors,  and  the  literary  taste  of  high 
and  low  was  suited  by  Roderick  Random,  Pere- 
grine Pickle,  Joseph  Andrews,  and.  Tom  Jones. 

These  were  the  days  when  Knox  says,  in  his 
history  of  Christian  Philosophy :  "  Some  of 
the  most  learned  men — ^the  most  voluminous 
writers  on  theological  subjects — were  totally 
ignorant  of  Christianity.  They  were  ingenious 
heathen  philosophers,  assuming  the  name  of 
Christians,  and  forcibly  paganizing  Christian- 
ity, for  the  sake  of  pleasing  the  world."  These 

I 
I 


GEOEGE  WHITEFIELD. 


m 


were  the  days  when  Archbishop  Drummond 
(1760)  could  talk  of  intricate  and  senseless 
questions,  about  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  and 
power  of  grace,  predestination,  imputed  right- 
eousness, justification  without  works,  and  other 
opinions  which  have  from  the  beginrling,  per- 
plexed and  perverted,  debased,  defiled,  and 
wounded  Christianity."  These  were  the  days 
when  Bishop  Warburton  considered  the  teach- 
ing ofi&ce  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be  completed 
in  the  Holy  Scripture,  and  that  his  sanctifying 
and  comforting  offices  are  chiefly  confined  to 
charity.  Such  were  the  leading  ministers. 
What  must  the  mass  of  teachers  have  been ! 
Such  were  the  priests  of  Whitefield's  time. 
What  must  have  been  the  people  ! 

These  were  the  days  when  there  was  an 
utter  dearth  of  sound  theological  writing.  The 
doctrines  of  the  Eeformers  were  trampled 
iinder-foot  by  men  who  occupied  their  chairs. 
The  bread  of  the  Church  was  eaten  by  men 
who  flatly  contradicted  her  Articles.  The  ap- 
petite of  religious  people  was  satisfied  with 
"  Tillotson's  Sermons,"  and  the  "Whole  Duty 
15* 


174  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


of  Man."  A  pension  of  two  hundred  pounds 
a  year  was  actually  given  to  Blair,  of  Edin- 
burgh, for  writing  his  most  unchristian  ser- 
mons. Ask  any  theological  bookseller,  and 
h.e  will  tell  you  that,  generall}'-  speaking,  no 
divinity  is  so  worthless  as  that  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

In  fine,  these  were  the  days  when  there  was 
no  Society  for  promoting  the  increase  of  true 
religion,  but  the  Christian  Knowledge  Society, 
and  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel.  And  even  their  work  was  compara- 
tively trifling.  Nothing  was  done  for  the 
Jew.  Nothing  was  done  for  the  heathen. 
Nothing,  almost,  was  done  for  the  colonies. 
Nothing  was  done  for  the  destitute  part  of  our 
own  country.  Nothing  was  done  for  educa- 
tion. The  Church  slept.  The  dissenters  slept. 
The  pulpit  slept.  The  religious  press  slept. 
The  gates  were  left  wide  open.  The  walls 
■were  left  unguarded.  Infidelity  stalked  in. 
The  Devil  sowed  tares  broad-cast,  and  walked 
to  and  fro.  The  gentry  gloried  in  their  shame, 
and  no  man  pointed  out  their  wickedness. 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


175 


The  people  sinned  witli  a  high  hand,  and  no 
man  taught  them  better.  Ignorance,  profli- 
gacy, irreligion,  and  superstition  were  to  be 
seen  every  where.  Such  were  the  times  when 
Whitefield  was  raised  up. 

I  know  that  this  is  a  dreadful  picture.  I 
marvel  God  did  not  sweep  away  the  Church 
altogether.  But  I  believe  that  the  picture  is 
not  one  whit  too  highly  colored.  It  is  painful 
to  expose  such  a  state  of  things.  But,  for 
Whitefield's  sake,  the  truth  ought  to  be  known. 
Justice  has  not  been  done  to  him,  because  the 
condition  of  the  times  he  lived  in  is  not  con- 
sidered. The  times  he  lived  in  were  extraor- 
dinary times,  and  required  extraordinary  means 
to  be  used.  And  whatever  quiet  men,  sitting 
by  their  fireside  in  our  day,  may  say  to  the 
contrary,  I  am  satisfied  that  Whitefield  was  just 
the  man  for  his  times. 

n.  The  story  of  Whitefield's  life,  which  forms 
the  next  part  of  our  subject,  is  one  that  is  soon 
told.    The  facts  and  incidents  of  that  life  are 


176  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


few  and  simple,  and  I  shall  not  dwell  upon 
them  at  any  length. 

Whitefield  was  born  in  1714.  Like  many 
other  great  men,  he  was  of  very  humble  ori- 
gin. His  father  and  mother  kept  the  Bell 
Inn,  in  the  city  of  Gloucester.  Whether  there 
is  such  an  inn  now,  I  do  not  know.  But, 
judging  from  Whitefield's  account  of  his  cir- 
cumstances, it  must  formerly  have  been  a  very 
small  concern. 

Whitefield's  early  life  seems  to  have  been 
any  thing  but  religious,  though  he  had  occa- 
sional fits  of  devout  feeling.  He  speaks  of 
himself  as  having  been  addicted  to  lying,  filthy 
talking  and  foolish  jesting.  He  confesses  that 
he  was  a  Sabbath-breaker,  a  theater-goer,  a 
card-player,  and  a  romance-reader.  All  this 
went  on  till  he  was  twelve  or  fifteen  years 
old. 

At  the  age  of  twelve  he  was  placed  at  a 
grammar-school  in  Gloucester.  Little  is  known 
of  his  progress  there,  excepting  the  curious 
fact  that  even  then  he  was  remarkable  for  his 
good  elocution  and  memory,  and  was  selected 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


177 


to  make  speeches  before  the  corporation,  at 
their  annual  visitations. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  appears  to  have  be- 
come tired  of  Latin  and  Greek,  and  to  have 
given  up  all  hopes  of  ever  becoming  more 
than  a  tradesman.  He  ceased  to  take  lessons 
in  any  thing  but  writing.  He  began  to  assist 
his  mother  in  the  public-house  that  she  kept. 
"At  length,"  he  says,  "I  put  on  my  blue 
apron,  washed  mops,  cleaned  rooms,  and,  in  - 
one  word,  became  a  professed  common  drawer 
for  nigh  a  year  and  a  half" 

But  God,  who  ordereth  all  things  in  heaven 
and  earth,  and  called  David  from  keeping 
sheep  to  be  a  king,  had  provided  some  better 
thing  for  Whitefield  than  the  office  of  a  pot- 
boy. Family  disagreements  interfered  with 
his  prospects  at  the  Bell  Inn.  An  old 
school-fellow  stirred  up  again  within  him 
the  desire  of  going  to  the  University.  And 
at  length,  after  several  providential  circum- 
stances had  smoothed  the  way,  he  was  launch- 
ed, at  the  age  of  eighteen,  at  Oxford,  in  a 
position  at  that  time  much  more  humbling 


178  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


than  it  is  now,  as  a  servitor  at  Pembroke  Col- 
lege. 

Whitefield's  Oxford  career  seems  to  have 
been  the  turning-point  in  his  life.  According 
to  his  own  journal,  he  had  not  been  without 
religious  convictions  for  two  or  three  years 
before  he  went  to  Oxford.  From  the  time  of 
his  entering  Pembroke  College,  these  convic- 
tions rapidly  ripened  into  decided  Christianity. 
He  became  marked  for  his  attendance  on  all 
means  of  grace  within  his  reach.  He  spent 
his  leisure  time  in  \'isiting  the  city  prisons  and 
doing  good.  He  formed  an  acquaintance  with 
the  famous  John  Wesley  and  his  brother 
Charles,  which  gave  a  color  to  the  whole  of 
his  subsequent  life.  At  one  time  he  seems  to 
have  had  a  narrow  escape  from  becoming  a 
semi-papist,  an  ascetic,  or  a  mystic.  From 
this  he  seems  to  have  been  delivered,  partly 
by  the  advice  of  wiser  and  more  experienced 
Christians,  and  partly  by  reading  such  books 
as  Scougal's  "  Life  of  God  in  the  Soul  of  Man," 
Law's  "Serious  Call,"  Baxter's  "Call  to  the 
Unconverted,"  and  Alleine's  "  Alarm  to  Un- 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD.  179 


converted  Sinners."  At  length,  in  1736,  at 
the  early  age  of  twenty-two,  he  was  ordained 
deacon  by  Bishop  Benson,  of  Gloucester,  and 
began  to  run  that  ministerial  race  in  which  he 
never  drew  breath  till  he  was  laid  in  the 
grave. 

His  first  sermon  was  preached  in  St.  Mary- 
le-Crypt,  Gloucester.  It  was  said  to  have 
driven  fifteen  persons  mad.  Bishop  Benson 
remarked,  that  he  only  hoped  the  madness 
might  continue.  He  next  accepted  temporary 
duty  at  the  Tower  Chapel,  London.  While 
engaged  there,  he  preached  continually  in 
many  of  the  London  churches,  and  among 
others,  in  the  parish  churches  of  Islington, 
Bishopsgate,  St.  Dunstan's,  St.  Margaret,  West- 
minster, and  Bow,  Cheapside.  From  the  very 
beginning  he  attained  a  degree  of  popularity 
such  as  no  preacher,  probably,  before  or  since, 
has  ever  reached.  To  say  that  the  churches 
were  crowded  when  he  preached,  would  be 
saying  little.  They  were  literally  crammed  to 
suffocation.  An  eye-witness  said,  "  You  might 
have  walked  on  the  people's  heads." 


180  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


From  London  he  removed  for  a  few  montlis 
to  Dummer,  a  little  rural  parish  in  Hampshire, 
near  Basingstoke.  From  Dummer  he  sailed 
for  the  colony  of  Georgia,  in  North  America, 
after  visiting  Gloucester  and  Bristol,  and 
preaching  in  crowded  churches  in  each  place. 
The  object  of  his  voyage  was  to  assist  the 
Wesley s  in  the  care  of  an  Orphan  House 
which  they  had  established  in  Georgia  for  the 
children  of  colonists  who  died  there.  The 
management  of  this  Orphan  House  ultimately 
devolved  entirely  on  Whitefield,  and  entailed 
on  him  a  world  of  responsibility  and  anxiety 
all  his  life  long.  Though  well  meant,  it  seems 
to  have  been  a  design  of  very  questionable 
wisdom.* 

Whitefield  returned  from  Georgia  after 
about  two  years'  absence,  partly  to  obtain 
priest's  orders,  which  were  conferred  on  him 
by  Bishop  Benson,  and  partly  on  business  con- 
nected with  the  Orphan  House.  And  now  we 
reach  the  era  in  his  life  when  he  was  obliged, 

*  This  Orphan  House  at  Savannah  is  now  in  a  flourish' 
ing  condition,  and  of  great  usefulness. 


GEORGE  AVHITEFIELD. 


181 


by  circumstances,  to  take  up  a  line  of  conduct 
as  a  minister  which  he  probably  at  one  time 
never  contemplated,  but  which  was  made  ab- 
solutely necessary  by  the  treatment  he  re- 
ceived. 

It  appears  that  on  arriving  in  London  after 
his  first  visit  to  Georgia,  he  found  the  counte- 
nances of  many  of  the  clergy  no  longer  to- 
ward him  as  they  were  before.  They  had 
taken  fright  at  some  expressions  in  his  pub- 
lished letters,  and  some  reports  of  his  conduct 
in  America.  They  were  scandalized  at  his 
preaching  the  doctrine  of  regeneration  in  the 
way  that  he  did,  as  a  thing  which  many  of 
their  parishioners  needed.  The  pulpits  of 
many  churches  were  flatly  refused  to  him. 
Chuchwardens,  who  had  no  eyes  for  heresy 
and  drunkenness,  were  filled  with  virtuous 
indignation  about  what  they  called  breaches 
of  order.  Bishops  who  could  tolerate  Arian- 
ism  and  Socinianism,  got  into  a  state  of  excite- 
ment about  a  man  who  simply  preached  the 
Gospel,  and  put  forth  warnings  against  fanati- 
cism and  enthusiasm.  In  short,  Whitefield'a 
16 


182  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


field  of  usefulness  within  the  Cliurcli  waa 
rapidly  narrowed  on  every  side. 

The  step  whicli  seems  to  have  decided 
Whitefield's  course  of  action  at  this  period  of 
his  life,  was  his  adoption  of  open-air  preaching. 
He  had  gone  to  Islington,  on  a  Sunday  in 
April,  1739,  to  preach  for  the  vicar,  his  friend, 
Mr.  Stonehouse.  In  the  midst  of  the  prayers, 
the  churchwarden  came  to  him,  and  demanded 
his  license  for  preaching  in  the  London  diocese. 
This  Whitefield,  of  course,  had  not  got,  any 
more  than  any  clergyman  not  regularly  offici- 
ating in  the  diocese  has  at  this  day.  The  up- 
shot of  the  matter  was,  that  being  forbidden 
to  preach  in  the  pulpit,  he  went  outside,  after 
the  service,  and  preached  in  the  churchyard. 
From  that  day  he  regularly  took  up  the  prac- 
tice of  open-air  preaching.  Wherever  there 
were  large  open  fields  around  London ;  where- 
ever  there  were  large  bands  of  idle,  church- 
despising,  Sabbath-breaking  people  gathered 
together — there  went  Whitefield  and  lifted  up 
his  voice.  The  Gospel  so  proclaimed  was 
listened  to,  and  greedily  received  by  hundreds 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


183 


who  bad  never  dreamed  of  visiting  a  place  of 
worship.  In  Moorfields,  in  Hackney  Fields, 
in  Mary-le-bone  Fields,  in  May  Fair,  in  Smith- 
field,  on  Kennington  Common,  on  Blackheath, 
Sunday  after  Sunday,  "Whitefield  preached  to 
admiring  masses.  Ten  thousand,  fifteen  thous- 
and, twenty  thousand,  thirty  thousand,  were 
computed  sometimes  to  have  heard  him  at 
once.  The  cause  of  pure  religion,  beyond 
doubt,  was  advanced.  Souls  were  plucked 
fi:om  the  hand  of  Satan,  as  brands  from  the 
burning.  But  it  was  going  much  too  fast  for 
the  Church  of  those  days.  The  clergy,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  would  have  nothing  to 
do  with  this  strange  preacher.  In  short,  the 
ministrations  of  Whitefield  in  the  pulpits  of 
the  Establishment,  with  an  occasional  excep- 
tion, from  this  time  ceased.  He  loved  the 
Church.  He  gloried  in  her  Articles  and  For- 
mularies. He  used  her  Prayer  Book  with  de- 
Hght.  But  the  Church  did  not  love  him,  and 
so  lost  the  use  of  his  services.  The  plain 
truth  is,  the  Church  of  England  of  that  day 
was  not  readyfor  a  man  like  Whitefield.  The 


184  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


Chuicli  was  too  much  asleep  to  understand 
liim. 

From  this  date  to  the  day  of  his  death,  a 
period  of  thirty-one  years,  Whitefield's  hfe 
was  one  uniform  employment.  From  Sunday 
morning  to  Saturday  night — from  the  1st  of 
January  to  the  31st  of  December — excepting 
when  laid  aside  by  illness,  he  was  almost  in- 
cessantly preaching.  There  was  hardly  a  con- 
siderable town  in  England,  Scotland,  and 
Wales,  that  he  did  not  visit.  When  churches 
were  opened  to  him,  he  gladly  preached  in 
churches.  When  chapels  were  only  offered, 
he  cheerfully  preached  in  chapels.  When 
church  and  chapel  alike  were  closed,  he  was 
ready  and  willing  to  preach  in  the  open  air. 
For  thirty -four  years  he  labored  in  this  way, 
always  proclaiming  the  same  glorious  Gospel, 
and  always,  as  far  as  man's  eye  can  judge,  with 
immense  effect.  In  one  single  Whitsuntide 
week,  after  he  had  been  preaching  at  Moor- 
fields,  he  received  one  thousand  letters  from 
people  under  spiritual  concern,  and  admitted 
to  the  Lord's  table  three  hundred  and  fifty 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


185 


persons.  In  the  thirtj-four  years  of  his  min- 
istry, it  is  reckoned  that  he  preached  publicly 
eighteen  thousand  times. 

His  journeyings  were  prodigious,  when  the 
roads  and  conveyances  of  his  times  are  con- 
sidered. Fourteen  times  did  he  visit  Scotland. 
Seven  times  did  he  cross  the  Atlantic,  back- 
ward and  forward.  Twice  he  went  over  to 
Ireland.  As  to  England  and  Wales,  he  tra- 
versed every  county  in  them,  from  the  Isle  of 
Wight  to  Berwick-on-Tweed,  and  from  the 
Land's  End  to  the  North  Foreland. 

His  regular  ministerial  worh  in  London,  when 
he  was  not  journeying,  was  prodigious.  His 
weekly  engagements  at  the  Tabernacle  in  Tot- 
tenham-court Eoad,  which  was  built  for  him 
when  the  pulpits  of  the  Established  Church 
were  closed,  were  as  follows  : — Every  Sunday 
morning  he  administered  the  Lord's  Supper  to 
several  hundred  communicants,  at  half-jDast  six. 
Ailer  this  he  read  prayers,  and  preached,  both 
morning  and  afternoon  ;  preached  again  in  the 
evening  at  half-past  five ;  and  concluded,  by 
addressing  a  large  society  of  widows,  married 
16* 


186  LIFE  AND  LABORS  0¥ 


people,  young  men  and  spinsters,  all  sitting 
separately  in  the  area  of  the  Tabernacle,  with 
exhortations  suitable  to  their  respective  sta- 
tions. On  Monday,  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  and 
Thursday  mornings,  he  preached  regularly  at 
six.  On  Monday,  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thurs- 
day and  Saturday  evenings,  he  delivered  lec- 
tures. This  you  will  observe  made  thirteen 
sermons  a  week.  And  all  this  time  he  was 
carrying  on  a  correspondence  with  people  in 
almost  every  part  of  the  world. 

That  any  human  frame  could  so  long  endure 
the  labor  he  went  through,  does  indeed  seem 
wonderful.  That  his  life  was  not  shortened  by 
violence,  is  no  less  wonderful.  Once  he  was 
nearly  stoned  to  death  by  a  Popish  mob  in 
Dublin.  Once  he  was  nearly  murdered  in  bed 
by  an  angry  heutenant  of  the  navy  at  Ply- 
mouth. Once  he  narrowly  escaped  being 
stabbed  by  the  sword  of  a  rakish  young  gen- 
tleman in  Moorfields;  but  he  was  immortal 
till  his  work  was  done.  He  died  at  last  at 
Newburyport,  in  North  America,  from  a  fit  of 
asthma,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six.    His  last  ser- 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


im 


mon  was  preached  only  twenty -four  hours  be- 
fore his  death.  It  was  an  open-air  discourse 
two  hours  long.  Like  Bishop  Jewell,  he  al- 
most died  preaching.  He  left  no  children. 
He  was  once  married,  and  the  marriage  does 
not  seem  to  have  contributed  much  to  his  hap- 
piness. But  he  left  a  name  far  better  than 
that  of  sons  and  daughters.  Never,  I  believe, 
was  there  a  man  of  whom  it  could  be  so 
truly  said,  that  he  spent  and  was  spent  for 
God. 

HI.  The  story  of  Whitefield''s  religion  is  the 
next  part  of  the  subject  that  I  proposed  to  take 
up,  and  unquestionably  it  is  one  of  no  little 
interest. 

What  sort  of  doctrine  did  this  wonderful 
man  preach  ?  an  inquirer  may  reasonably  ask. 
What  were  the  standards  of  faith  to  which  he 
adhered  under  the  Bible?  What  were  the 
peculiar  essentials  of  this  religious  teaching  of 
his,  which  was  so  universally  spoken  against 
in  his  day  ? 

The  answer  to  all  these  questions  is  short 


188  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


and  simple.  "Wbitefield  was  a  real,  genuine 
son  of  tTie  Cliurcli  of  England.  As  sucli  lie 
was  brought  up  in  early  youth.  As  such  he 
"was  educated  at  Oxford.  As  such  he 
preached  as  long  as  he  was  allowed  to  preach 
■within  the  Establishment.  As  such  he  preach- 
ed when  he  was  outside.  Eeferences  to  the 
Prayer  Book,  Articles,  and  Homilies,  abound 
in  all  his  writings  and  sermons.  His  constant 
reply  to  his  numerous  opponents  was,  that  he 
at  any  rate  was  consistent  with  the  formularies 
of  his  own  Church,  and  that  THEY  were  not. 
It  is  not  at  all  too  much  to  say,  that  when 
practically  cast  out  of  the  Establishment, 
Whitefield  was  an  infinitely  better  churchman 
than  ten  thousand  of  the  men  who  received 
the  tithes  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  re- 
mained comfortably  behind. 

Whitefield  no  doubt  was  not  a  churchman 
of  the  stamp  of  Archbishop  Laud  and  his 
school.  He  was  not  the  man  to  put  a  Eomish 
interpretation  on  our  excellent  Formularies, 
and  to  place  Church  and  sacraments  before 
Christ.    He  was  not  a  churchman  of  the  stamp 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


189 


of  Tillotson  and  the  school  that  followed  him. 
He  did  not  lay  aside  justification  by  faith,  and 
the  need  of  grace,  for  semi-heathen  disquisi- 
tions about  morality  and  duty,  virtue  and  vice. 
And  he  was  quite  right.  Laud  and  his  fol- 
lowers went  infinitely  beyond  the  doctrines 
of  our  Church.  Tillotson  and  his  school  fell 
infinitely  below. 

But  if  a  churchman  is  a  man  who  reads  the 
Articles,  and  Liturgy,  and  Homilies,  in  the 
sense  of  the  men  who  compiled  them — if  a 
churchman  is  a  man  who  sympathizes  with 
Cranmer,  and  Latimer,  and  Hooper,  and  J ewell 
— if  a  churchman  is  a  man  who  honors  doc- 
trines  and  ordinances  in  the  order  and  propor- 
tion that  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  honor  them 
— if  this  be  the  true  definition  of  a  church- 
man, then  "Whitefield  was  the  highest  style  of 
churchman — as  true  a  churchman  as  ever 
breathed.  And  as  for  Whitefleld's  adversaries, 
they  were  little  better  than  shams  and  impos- 
tors. They  had  place  and  power  on  their  side, 
but  they  scarcely  deserve  to  be  called  church- 
men at  alL 


190  LIFE  AND  LABOES  OF 


Perhaps  no  better  test  of  Whitefield's  relig- 
ious opinions  can  be  supplied,  than  the  list  of 
authors  in  divinity  which  he  wrote  out  for  the 
use  of  a  college  connected  with  hi^  Orphan 
House  in  Georgia.  Of  churchmen,  this  list 
includes  the  names  of  Archbishop  Leighton, 
Bishop  Hall,  and  Burkitt ;  of  Puritans,  Pool, 
Owen,  and  Bunyan ;  of  Dissenters,  Matthew 
Henry  and  Doddridge  ;  of  Scotch  Presbyteri- 
ans, Wilson  and  Boston.  All  these  are  men 
whose  praise  is  even  now  in  all  the  churches. 
These,  let  us  understand,  were  the  kind  of  men 
with  whom  he  was  of  one  mind  in  doctrine. 

As  to  the  substance  of  Whitefield's  theolog- 
ical teaching,  the  simplest  account  I  can  give 
of  it  is,  that  it  was  purely  evangelical.  There 
were  four  main  things  that  he  never  lost  sight 
of  in  his  sermons.  These  four  were :  man's 
complete  ruin  by  sin,  and  consequent  natural 
corruption  of  heart ;  man's  complete  redemp- 
tion by  Christ,  and  complete  justification  be- 
fore God  by  faith  in  Christ ;  man's  need  of 
regeneration  by  the  Spirit,  and  entire  renewal 
of  heart  and  life ;  and  man's  utter  want  of 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


191 


any  title  to  be  considered  a  living  Christian, 
unless  lie  is  dead  to  sin  and  lives  a  holy 
life. 

Whitefield  had  no  notion  of  flattering  men, 
and  speaking  smooth  things  to  them,  merely 
because  they  were  baptized  and  called  Chris- 
tians, and  sometimes  came  to  church.  He  only 
looked  at  one  prominent  feature  in  the  thou- 
sands he  saw  around  him ;  and  that  was,  the 
general  character  of  their  lives.  He  saw  the 
lives  of  these  multitudes  were  utterly  contra- 
dictory to  the  Bible,  and  utterly  at  variance 
with  the  principles  of  the  Church  to  which 
they  professed  to  belong.  He  waited  for  noth- 
ing more.  He  looked  for  no  further  evidence. 
He  judged  of  trees  by  their  fruits.  He  told 
these  thousands  at  once  that  they  were  in  dan- 
ger of  being  lost  forever — that  they  were  in 
the  broad  way  that  leads  to  destruction— that 
they  were  dead,  and  must  be  made  alive  again 
— that  they  were  lost,  and  must  be  found. 
He  told  them  that  if  they  loved  life,  they  must 
immediately  repent — they  must  become  new 
creatures — they  must  be  converted,  they  must 


192 


LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


loe  born  again.  And  I  believe  the  apostles 
would  have  done  just  the  same. 

But  Whitefield  was  just  as  full  and  explicit 
in  setting  forth  the  way  to  heaven  as  he  was  in 
setting  forth  the  way  to  hell.  When  he  saw 
that  men's  consciences  were  pricked  and  their 
fears  aroused,  he  would  open  the  treasure- 
house  of  gospel  mercy,  and  spread  forth  before 
a  congregation  its  unsearchable  stores.  He 
■would  unfold  to  them  the  amazing  love  of 
God  the  Father  to  a  fallen  world — that  love 
from  which  he  gave  his  only -begotten  Son,  and 
on  account  of  which,  while  we  were  yet  sin- 
ners, Christ  died  for  us.  He  -^vould  show  them 
the  amazing  love  of  God  the  Son  in  taking 
our  nature  on  him,  and  suffering  for  us,  the 
just  for  the  unjust.  He  would  tell  them  of 
Jesus  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  that  would 
come  to  God  by  him — Jesus  and  his  everlast- 
ing righteousness,  in  which  the  vilest  sinner 
might  stand  complete  and  perfect  before  the 
throne  of  God — ^Jesus  and  the  blood  of  sprink- 
ling, which  could  wash  the  blackest  sins  away 
— Jesus  the  High-Priest,  waiting  to  receive  all 


GEOKGE  WHITEFIELD, 


193 


who  would  come  to  him,  and  not  only  mighty, 
but  ready  to  save.  And  all  this  glorious  salva- 
tion, he  would  tell  men,  was  close  to  them.  Itwas 
not  far  above  them,  like  heaven.  It  was  not 
deep  beneath  them,  like  hell.  It  was  near  at 
hand.  It  was  within  their  reach.  He  would 
urge  them  at  once  to  accept  it.  The  man  that 
felt  his  sins  and  desired  deliverance  had  only 
to  believe  and  be  saved,  to  ask  and  receive,  to 
wash  and  be  clean.  And  was  he  not  right  to 
say  so  ?  I  believe  the  apostles  would  have 
said  much  the  same. 

But  while  Whitefield  addressed  the  careless 
and  ungodly  masses  in  this  style,  he  never 
failed  to  urge  on  those  who  made  a  high  pro- 
fession of  religion  their  responsibility,  and  to 
stir  them  up  to  walk  worthy  of  their  high  call- 
ing. He  never  tolerated  men  who  talked  well 
about  religion,  but  lived  inconsistent  lives. 
Such  men,  no  doubt,  there  were  about  him, 
but  it  is  pretty  certain  they  got  no  quarter 
from  him.  On  the  contrary,  one  of  his  biog- 
raphers tells  us  that  he  was  especially  careful 
to  impress  upon  all  the  members  of  his  con- 
17 

i 


194  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OP 


gregation  the  absolute  necessity  of  adorning 
tlie  doctrine  of  God  in  all  the  relations  of  life. 
Masters  and  servants,  rich  people  and  poor, 
old  and  young,  married  and  single,  each  and 
all  were  plainly  exhorted  to  glorify  God  in 
their  respective  positions.  One  day  he  would 
tell  the  young  men  of  his  congregation  to  be- 
ware of  being  like  one  he  heard  of,  whose 
uncle  described  him  as  such  a  jumble  of  relig- 
ion and  business,  that  he  was  fit  for  neither. 
Another  day  he  would  hold  up  the  example 
of  a  widow,  remarkable  for  her  confidence  in 
God,  Another  day  he  would  say  to  them, 
"  God  convert  you  more  and  more  every  hour 
of  the  day ;  God  convert  you  from  lying  in 
bed  in  the  morning ;  God  convert  you  from 
lukewarmness ;  God  convert  you  from  conform- 
ity to  the  world  I "  Another  day  he  would  warn 
yo\mg  men  against  leaving  their  religion  behind 
them  as  they  rose  in  the  world,  "  Beware,"  he 
would  say,  "  of  being  golden  apprentices,  sil- 
ver journeymen,  and  copper  masters."  In 
short,  there  never  was  a  greater  mistake  than 
to  suppose  there  was  any  thing  Antinomian  or 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD.  195 


licentious  in  Wliitefield's  teaching.  It  was 
discriminating,  unquestionably.  Sinners  had 
their  portion ;  but  saints  had  their  portion  too. 
And  what  was  this  but  walking  in  the  verj 
steps  of  the  apostle  Paul  ? 

The  crowning  excellence  of  Whitefield's 
teaching  was,  that  he  just  spoke  of  men,  things, 
and  doctrines,  in  the  way  that  the  Bible  speaks 
of  them,  and  the  place  that  the  Bible  assigns 
to  them.  God,  Christ,  and  the  Spirit — sin, 
justification,  conversion,  and  sanctification — 
impenitent  sinners  the  most  miserable  of  peo- 
ple— believing  saints  the  most  privileged  of 
people — the  world  a  vain  and  empty  thing — 
heaven  the  only  rest  for  an  immortal  soul — 
the  Devil  a  tremendous  and  ever- watchful  foe 
— holiness  the  only  true  happiness — hell  a  real 
and  certain  portion  for  the  unconverted ;  these 
were  the  kind  of  subjects  which  filled  White- 
field's  mind,  and  formed  the  staple  of  his  min- 
istry. To  say  that  he  undervalued  the  sacra- 
ments would  be  simply  false.  His  weekly 
communions  at  the  Tabernacle  are  an  answer 
that  speaks  for  itself    But  he  never  put  the 


196  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


first  things  in  Christianity  second,  and  the  sec- 
ond first.  He  never  put  doctrines  below  sac- 
raments, and  sacraments  above  doctrine.  And 
who  shall  dare  to  blame  him  for  this?  He 
only  followed  the  proportion  of  the  Bible. 

It  is  only  fair  to  add,  that  Whitefield  exem- 
plified in  his  practice  the  religion  that  he 
preached.  He  had  faults,  unquestionably.  I 
have  not  come  here  to  make  him  out  a  perfect 
being.  He  often  erred  in  judgment.  He  was 
often  hasty,  both  with  his  tongue  and  with  his 
pen.  He  had  no  business  to  say  that  Arch- 
bishop Tillotson  knew  no  more  of  religion 
than  Mohammed.  He  was  wrong  to  set  down 
some  people  as  the  Lord's  enemies,  and  others 
as  the  Lord's  friends,  so  precipitately  as  he 
sometimes  did.  He  was  to  blame  for  styling 
many  of  the  clergy  letter-learned  Pharisees, 
because  they  could  not  receive  the  doctrine  oi 
the  new  birth.  But  still,  after  all  this  has  been 
said,  here  can  be  no  doubt  that,  in  the  main 
lie  was  a  holy,  self-denying,  and  consistent 
man.  Even  his  worst  enemies  can  say  nothing 
to  the  contrary. 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


197 


He  was,  to  the  very  end,  a  man  of  eminent 
self-denial.  His  style  of  living  was  most  sim- 
ple. He  refused  money  when  it  was  pressed 
upon  liim,  and  once  to  the  amount  of  seven 
thousand  pounds.  He  amassed  no  fortune. 
He  founded  no  wealthy  fe,mily.  The  little 
money  he  left  behind  him  at  his  death  was  en- 
tirely from  the  legacies  of  friends. 

He  was  a  man  of  remarkable  disinterestedness 
and  singleness  of  eye.  He  seemed  to  live  for 
only  two  objects — the  glory  of  God,  and  the 
salvation  of  immortal  souls.  He  raised  no 
party  of  followers  who  took  his  name.  He 
established  no  system,  like  "Wesley,  of  which 
his  own  writings  should  be  cardinal  elements. 
A  frequent  expression  of  his  is  most  character- 
istic of  the  man :  "  Let  the  name  of  George 
Whitefield  perish,  so  long  as  Christ  only  is 
exalted." . 

Last,  but  not  least,  he  was  a  man  of  extra- 
ordinary caiholicity  and  liberality  in  his  religion. 
He  knew  nothing  of  that  narrow-minded  pol- 
icy which  prompts  a  man  to  fancy  that  every 
thing  must  be  barren  outside  his  own  camp, 
17* 


198  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


and  that  his  party  has  got  a  monopoly  of  truth 
and  heaven.  He  loved  all  who  loved  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity.  He  measured 
all  by  the  measure  which  the  angels  of  God 
use — "  did  they  possess  repentance  toward 
God,  faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  ho- 
liness of  conversation?"  If  they  did,  they 
■were  as  his  brethren.  His  soul  was  with  such 
men,  by  whatever  name  they  were  called. 
Minor  differences  were  wood,  hay,  and  stubble 
to  him.  The  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus  were 
the  only  marks  he  cared  for.  This  catholicity 
is  the  more  remarkable,  when  the  spirit  of  the 
times  he  lived  in  is  considered.  Even  the  Er- 
skines,  in  Scotland,  wanted  him  to  preach  for 
no  other  denomination  but  their  own,  viz.,  the 
Secession  Church.  He  asked  them,  why  only 
for  them ;  and  received  the  notable  answer, 
that  they  were  the  Lord's  people.  .  This  was 
more  than  Whitefield  could  stand.  He  asked 
if  there  were  no  other  Lord's  people  but  them- 
selves. He  told  them,  if  all  others  were  the 
Devil's  people,  they  certainly  had  more  need 
to  be  preached  to.    And  he  wound  up  by  in- 


GEOKGE  WHITEFIELD. 


199 


forming  them,  that  if  the  Pope  himself  would 
lend  him  his  pulpit,  he  would  gladly  proclaim 
the  righteousness  of  Christ  in  it.  To  this  cath- 
olicity of  spirit  he  adhered  all  his  days.  And 
nothing  could  be  a  more  weighty  testimony 
against  all  narrowness  of  spirit  among  be- 
lievers, than  his  request,  shortly  before  his 
death,  that  when  he  did  die,  John  Wesley 
might  be  asked  to  preach  his  funeral  sermon. 
Wesley  and  he  had  long  ceased  to  see  eye  to 
eye  on  Calvinistic  points.  But  as  Calvin  said 
of  Luther,  so  Whitefield  was  resolved  to  think 
of  Wesle}'.  He  was  determined  to  sink  minor 
differences,  and  to  know  him  only  as  a  good 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Such  was  George  Whitefield's  religion. 
Comment,  I  hope,  is  needless  upon  it.  Time, 
at  any  rate,  forbids  me  to  dwell  on  it  a  moment 
longer.  But  surely  I  think  I  have  shown 
enough  to  justify  me  in  expressing  a  wish  that 
we  had  many  living  ministers  in  the  Church 
of  England  like  George  Whitefield. 

ly.  The  next  part  of  the  subject  is  one 


200  LIFE  AND  LABOES  OF 


whicli  I  feel  some  difl&culty  in  handling — I  al- 
lude to  Whitefield's  preaching. 

I  find  that  this  point  is  one  on  which  much 
difference  of  opinion  prevails.  I  find  many 
are  disposed  to  think  that  part  of  "Whitefield's 
success  is  attributable  to  the  novelty  of  Gospel 
doctrines  at  the  times  when  he  preached,  and 
part  to  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  voice  and 
delivery  with  which  he  was  endowed,  and  that 
the  matter  and  style  of  his  sermons  were  in  no 
wise  remarkable.  From  this  opinion  I  am  in- 
clined to  dissent  altogether.  After  calm  ex- 
amination, I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
Whitefield  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  and 
extraordinary  preachers  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  My  belief  is,  that  hitherto  he  has  never 
been  too  highly  estimated,  and  that,  on  the 
contrary,  he  does  not  receive  the  credit  he 
deserves. 

One  thing  is  abundantly  clear  and  beyond 
dispute,  and  that  is,  that  his  sermons  were 
wonderfully  effective.  No  preacher  has  ever 
succeeded  in  arresting  the  attention  of  such 
enormous  crowds  of  people  as  those  he  ad- 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


201 


dressed  continually  in  the  neighborhood  of 
London.  No  preacher  has  ever  been  so  uni- 
versally popular  in  every  country  he  visited, 
England,  Scotland,  and  America,  as  he  was. 
No  preacher  has  ever  retained  his  hold  on  his 
hearers  so  entirely  as  he  did  for  thirty-four 
years.  His  popularity  never  waned.  It  was 
as  great  at  the  end  of  his  days  as  it  was  at  the 
beginning.  This  of  itself  is  a  great  fact.  To 
command  the  ear  of  people  for  thirty-four  long 
years,  and  be  preaching  incessantly  the  whole 
time,  is  something  that  the  novelty  of  the  Gos- 
pel alone  will  not  account  for.  The  theory 
that  his  preaching  was  popular,  because  new, 
to  my  mind  is  utterly  unsatisfactory. 

Another  thing  is  no  less  indisputable  about 
his  preaching,  and  that  is,  that  it  produced  a 
powerful  effect  on  people  in  every  rank  of  life. 
He  won  the  suffrages  of  high  as  well  as  low, 
of  rich  as  well  as  poor,  of  learned  as  well  as 
unlearned.  If  his  preaching  had  been  popular 
with  none  but  the  uneducated  masses,  we 
might  have  thought  it  possible  there  was  little 
in  it  except  a  striking  delivery  and  a  loud 


202 


LIFE  A^^)  LABORS  OF 


voice.  But  facts  are,  unfortunately,  against 
tliis  theory  too ;  and,  under  the  pressure  of 
these  facts,  it  will  be  found  to  break  down. 

It  is  a  fact,  that  numbers  of  the  nobility  and 
gentry  of  "Whitefield's  day  were  warm  admir- 
ers of  his  preaching.  The  Marquis  of  Lothian, 
the  Earl  of  Leven,  the  Earl  of  Buchan,  Lord 
Rae,  Lord  Dartmouth,  Lord  James  A.  Gordon, 
might  be  named,  among  others,  besides  Lady 
Huntingdon,  and  a  host  of  ladies. 

It  is  a  fact,  that  eminent  statesmen,  like  Bo- 
lingbroke  and  Chesterfield,  were  frequently  his 
delighted  hearers.  Even  the  artificial  Chester- 
field was  known  to  warm  under  Whitefield's 
eloquence.  Bolingbroke  has  placed  on  record 
his  opinion,  and  said,  "  He  is  the  most  extra- 
ordinary man  in  our  times.  He  has  the  most 
commanding  eloquence  I  ever  heard  in  any 
person." 

It  is  a  fact,  that  cool-headed  men,  like  Hume 
the  historian,  and  Franklin  the  philosopher, 
spoke  in  no  measured  terms  of  his  preaching 
powers.  Franklin  has  written  a  long  account 
of  the  effect  his  sermons  produced  at  Philadel- 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


203 


I    phia.    Hume  declared  that  it  was  wortli  going 

I     twenty  miles  to  hear  him. 

Now  these  are  facts — simple,  historical,  and 
well-authenticated  facts.  What  shall  we  say 
to  them?  I  say  that  these  facts  are  quite 
enough  to  prove  that  Whitefield's  effectiveness 
was  not  owing  entirely  to  delivery  and  voice, 
as  some  men  would  have  us  believe.  Boling- 
broke  and  Chesterfield,  and  Hume,  and  Frank- 
hn,  were  not  such  weak  men  as  to  allow  their 

ij  judgments  to  be  biased  by  any  mere  external 
endowments.  They  were  no  mean  judges  of 
eloquence.  They  were,  probably,  among  the 
best  qualified  critics  of  the  day.  And  I  say 
confidently,  that  their  opinion  can  only  be  ex- 
plained by  the  fact,  that  Whitefield  was  indeed 
a  most  powerful  and  extraordinary  preacher. 

But  still,  after  all,  the  question  remains  to 
be  answered,  What  was  the  secret  of  White- 

I  field's  unparalleled  success  as  a  preacher  ?  How 

'  are  we  to  account  for  his  sermons  producing 
effects  which  no  sermons,  before  or  after  his 
time,  have  ever  yet  done  ?  These  are  ques- 
tions you  have  a  right  to  ask.    But  they  are 


204  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


questions  I  find  it  very  hard  to  answer.  That 
his  sermons  were  not  mere  voice  and  rant,  I 
think,  we  have  pretty  clearly  proved.  That 
he  was  a  man  of  commanding  intellect,  and 
grasp  of  mind,  no  one  has  ever  pretended  to 
say.  How  then  are  we  to  account  for  the 
effectiveness  of  his  preaching  ? 

The  reader  who  turns  for  a  solution  of  this 
question  to  the  seventy-five  sermons  published 
under  his  name,  will  probably  be  much  disap- 
pointed. He  will  not  find  in  them  many  strik- 
ing thoughts.  He  will  not  discover  in  them 
any  new  exhibitions  of  Gospel  doctrine.  The 
plain  truth  is,  that  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
them  were  taken  down  in  short-hand  by  re- 
porters, without  Whitefield's  knowledge,  and 
published  without  correction.  No  intelligent 
reader,  I  think,  can  help  discovering  that  these 
reporters  were,  must  unhappily,  ignorant  alike 
of  stopping  and  paragraphing,  of  grammar, 
and  of  Gospel.  The  consequence  is,  that  many 
passages  in  these  sermons  are  what  Latimer 
would  call  a  "  mingle-mangle,"  or  what  we 
should  call  in  this  day  "  a  complete  mess." 


GEORGE  "WHITEFIELD. 


205 


Nevertheless,  I  am  bold  to  say,  that  with  all 
their  faults,  Whitefield's  printed  sermons  will 
repay  a  candid  perusal.  Let  the  reader  only 
remember  what  I  have  just  said,  that  most  of 
them  are  miserably  reported,  paragraphed,  and 
stopped,  and  make  allowance  accordingly.  Let 
him  remember,  also,  that  English  for  speaking 
and  English  for  reading  are  two  different  lan- 
guages ;  and  that  sermons  which  preach  well, 
always  read  ill.  Eemember  these  two  things, 
I  say,  and  I  do  believe  you  will  find  very 
much  to  admire  in  some  of  Whitefield'2  ser- 
mons. For  myself,  I  can  only  say,  I  believe  I 
have  learned  much  from  them,  and,  however 
great  a  heresy  against  taste  it  may  appear,  I 
should  be  ungrateful  if  I  did  not  praise  them. 

And  now  let  me  try  to  point  out  to  you 
what  seem  to  me  to  have  been  the  character- 
istic features  of  Whitefield's  sermons.  I  may 
be  wrong,  but  they  appear  to  me  to  present 
just  such  a  combination  of  excellences  as  is 
most  likely  to  make  an  effective  preacher. 

First  and  foremost,  you  must  remember, 
Whitefield  preached  a  singularly  pure  Gospel. 
18 


206  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


Few  men  ever  gave  their  hearers  so  mucli  wheat 
and  so  little  chaflf.  He  did  not  get  into  his 
pulpit  to  talk  about  his  party,  his  cause,  his 
interest,  or  his  office.  He  was  perpetually  tell- 
ing you  about  your  sins,  your  heart,  and  Jesus 
Christ,  in  the  way  that  the  Bible  speaks  of 
them.  "  Oh !  the  righteousness  of  Jesus 
Christ!"  he  would  frequently  say:  "I  must 
be  excused  if  I  mention  it  in  almost  all  my 
sermons."  This,  you  may  be  sure,  is  the  cor- 
ner-stone of  all  preaching  that  God  honors.  It 
must  be  pre-eminently  a  manifestation  of  truth. 

For  another  thing,  Whitefield's  preaching 
was  singularly  lucid  and  simple.  You  might 
not  like  his  doctrine,  perhaps ;  but  at  any  rate 
you  could  not  fail  to  understand  what  he 
meant.  His  style  was  easy,  plain,  and  conver- 
sational. He  seemed  to  abhor  long  and  in- 
volved sentences.  He  always  saw  his  mark, 
and  went  direct  at  it.  He  seldom  or  never 
troubled  his  hearers  with  long  arguments  and 
intricate  reasonings.  Simple  Bible  statements, 
pertinent  anecdotes,  and  apt  illustrations,  were 
the  more  common  weapons  that  he  used.  The 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


207 


consequence  was,  that  his  hearers  always  un- 
derstood Lim.  He  never  shot  above  their 
heads.  Never  did  man  seem  to  enter  so  thor- 
oughly into  the  wisdom  of  Archbishop  Usher's 
saying,  "  To  make  easy  things  seem  hard  is 
easy,  but  to  make  hard  things  easy  is  the  office 
of  a  great  preacher." 

For  another  thing,  Whitefield  was  a  singu- 
larly bold  and  direct  preacher.  He  never  used 
that  indefinite  expression,  "  we,"  which  seems 
so  peculiar  to  English  pulpit  oratory,  and 
which  leaves  a  hearer's  mind  in  a  state  of  misty 
confusion  as  to  the  preacher's  meaning.  He 
met  men  face  to  face,  like  one  who  had  a  mes- 
sage from  God  to  them — like  an  embassador 
with  tidings  from  heaven ;  "  I  have  come  here 
to  speak  to  you  about  your  soul."  He  never 
minced  matters,  and  beat  about  the  bush  in 
attacking  prevailing  sins.  His  great  object 
seemed  to  be  to  discover  the  dangers  his  hear- 
ers were  most  liable  to,  and  then  fire  right  at 
their  hearts.  The  result  was,  that  hundreds 
of  his  hearers  used  always  to  think  that  the 
sermons  were  specially  addressed  to  them- 


208 


LIFE  AND  LABOES  OF 


selves.  He  was  not  content,  like  many,  with 
sticking  on  a  tailpiece  of  application  at  the  end 
of  a  long  discourse.  A  constant  vein  of  ap- 
plication run  through  all  his  sermons.  "  This 
is  for  you :  this  is  for  you :  and  this  is  for 
you."  His  hearers  were  never  let  alone.  Noth- 
ing, however,  was  more  striking  than  his 
direct  appeals  to  all  classes  of  his  congrega- 
tion, as  he  drew  toward  a  conclusion.  With 
all  the  faults  of  his  printed  sermons,  the  con- 
clusions of  some  of  them  are,  to  my  mind,  the 
most  stirring  and  heart-searching  addresses  to 
souls  that  are  to  be  found  in  the  English 
language. 

Another  striking  feature  in  Whitefield's 
preaching  was  his  thundering  earnestness.  One 
poor,  uneducated  man  said  of  him,  that  he 
"  preached  like  a  lion."  Never,  perhaps,  did 
any  preacher  so  thoroughly  succeed  in  show- 
ing people  that  he,  at  least,  believed  in  all  he 
was  saying,  and  that  his  whole  heart,  and  soul, 
and  strength,  were  bent  on  making  them  be- 
lieve it  too.  No  man  could  say  that  his  ser- 
mons were  like  the  morning  and  evening  gun 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD.  209 


at  Portsmouth,  a  formal  discharge,  fired  off  as 
a  matter  of  course,  that  disturbs  nobody.  They 
were  all  life.  They  were  all  fire.  There  was 
no  getting  away  from  under  them.  Sleep  was 
next  to  impossible.  You  must  listen  whethel 
you  liked  it  or  not.  There  was  a  holy  violence 
about  him.  Your  attention  was  taken  by 
storm.  You  were  fairly  carried  off  your  legs 
by  his  energy,  before  you  had  time  to  con- 
sider Avhat  you  would  do.  An  American 
gentleman  once  went  to  hear  him,  for  the  first 
time,  in  consequence  of  the  report  he  heard  of 
his  preaching  powers.  The  day  was  rainy, 
the  congregation  comparatively  thin,  and  the 
beginning  of  the  sermon  rather  heavy.  Our 
American  friend  began  to  say  to  himself, 
"  This  man  is  no  great  wonder  after  all."  He 
looked  round,  and  saw  the  congregation  as 
little  interested  as  himself  One  old  man,  in 
front  of  the  pulpit,  had  fallen  asleep.  But  all 
at  once  Whitefield  stopped  short.  His  coun- 
tenance changed.  And  then  he  suddenly 
broke  forth  in  an  altered  tone :  "  If  I  had  come 
to  speak  to  you  in  my  own  name,  you  might 
18* 


210  LIFE  Am)  LABORS  OF 


well  rest  you  elbows  on  your  knees,  and  your 
heads  on  your  hands,  and  sleep ;  and  once  in 
a  while  look  up  and  say,  What  is  this  babbler 
talking  of?  But  I  have  not  come  to  you  in 
my  own  name.  No !  I  have  come  to  you  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts,"  (here  he 
brought  down  his  hand  and  foot  with  a  force 
that  made  the  building  ring,)  "  and  I  must  and 
will  be  heard."  The  congregation  started. 
The  old  man  woke  up  at  once.  "  Ay,  ay !" 
cried  Whitefield,  fixing  his  eyes  on  him,  "  I 
have  waked  you  up,  have  I  ?  I  meant  to  do 
it.  I  am  not  come  here  to  preach  to  stocks 
and  stones :  I  have  come  to  you  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts,  and  I  must  and  will 
have  an  audience."  The  hearers  were  stripped 
of  their  apathy  at  once.  Every  word  of  the 
sermon  was  attended  to.  And  the  American 
gentleman  never  forgot  it. 

Another  striking  feature  in  Whitefield's 
preaching  was  his  singular  power  of  description. 
The  Arabians  have  a  proverb  which  says, 
"  He  is  the  best  orator  who  can  turn  men's 
ears  into  eyes."    If  ever  there  was  a  speaker 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


211 


who  succeeded  in  doing  this,  it  was  White- 
field.  He  drew  such  vivid  pictures  of  the 
things  he  was  dwelling  upon,  that  his  hearers 
could  believe  they  actually  saw  them  all  with 
their  own  eyes,  and  heard  them  with  their 
own  ears.  "  On  one  occasion,"  says  one  of  his 
biographers,  "Lord  Chesterfield  was  among 
his  hearers.  The  preacher,  in  describing  the 
miserable  condition  of  a  poor,  benighted  sin- 
ner, illustrated  the  subject  by  describing  a 
blind  beggar.  The  night  was  dark ;  the  road 
dangerous  and  full  of  snares.  The  poor  sight- 
less mendicant  is  deserted  by  his  dog  near  the 
edge  of  a  precipice,  and  has  nothing  to  grope 
his  way  with  but  his  staff.  But  Whitefield 
so  warmed  with  his  subject,  and  unfolded  it 
with  such  graphic  power,  that  the  whole  audi- 
tory was  kept  in  breathless  silence  over  the 
movements  of  the  poor  old  man ;"  and,  at 
length,  when  the  beggar  was  about  to  take 
that  fatal  step  which  would  have  hurled  him 
down  the  precipice  to  certain  destruction.  Lord 
Chesterfield  actually  made  a  rush  forward  to 
save  him,  exclaiming  aloud,  "  He  is  gone !  he 


212  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OP 


is  gone !"  The  noble  lord  had  been  so  entire- 
ly carried  away  by  tbe  preacher,  that  he  for- 
got the  whole  was  a  picture. 

One  more  feature  in  Whitefield's  preaching 
deserves  especial  notice,  and  that  is,  the  im- 
mense amount  of  pathos  and  feeling  which  it 
always  contained.  It  was  no  uncommon  thing 
with  him  to  weep  profusely  in  the  pulpit. 
Cornelius  Winter  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  he 
hardly  ever  knew  him  get  through  a  sermon 
without  tears.  There  seems  to  have  been 
nothing  whatever  of  affectation  in  this.  He 
felt  intensely  for  the  souls  before  him,  and  his 
feeling  found  a  vent  in  tears.  Of  all  the  in- 
gredients of  his  preaching,  nothing,  I  suspect, 
was  so  powerful  as  this.  It  awakened  sympa- 
thies, and  touched  secret  springs  in  men,  which 
no  amount  of  intellect  could  have  moved.  It 
melted  down  the  prejudices  which  many  had 
conceived  against  him.  They  could  not  hate 
the  man  who  wept  so  much  over  their  souls. 
They  were  often  so  affected  as  to  shed  floods 
of  tears  themselves.  "  I  came  to  hear  you," 
said  one  man,  "  intending  to  break  your  head ; 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


213 


but  your  sermon  got  tlie  better  of  me — it 
broke  my  heart."  Once  become  satisfied  that 
a  man  loves  you,  and  you  -will  listen  gladly  to 
any  thing  he  has  got  to  say.  And  this  was 
just  one  grand  secret  of  Whitefield's  success. 

And  now  I  will  only  ^sk  you  to  add  to  this 
feeble  sketch,  that  Whitefield's  action  was  per- 
fect— so  perfect  that  Garrick,  the  famous  actor, 
gave  it  unqualified  praise — that  his  voice  was 
as  wonderful  as  his  action — so  powerful,  that 
he  could  make  thirty  thousand  people  hear 
him  at  once ;  so  musical  and  well-attuned, 
that  men  said  he  could  raise  tears  by  his  pro- 
nunciation of  the  word  "  Mesopotamia :"  that 
his  fluency  and  command  of  extemporaneous 
language  were  of  the  highest  order,  prompt- 
ing him  always  to  use  the  right  word  and  to 
put  it  in  the  right  place.  Add,  I  say,  these 
gifts  to  those  already  mentioned,  and  then 
judge  for  yourselves  whether  there  is  not  suffi- 
cient, and  more  than  sufficient,  in  our  hands, 
to  account  for  his  power  as  a  preacher. 

For  my  part,  I  say,  unhesitatingly,  that  I 
believe  no  living  preacher  ever  possessed  such 


214  LIFE  AND  LABOES  OF 


a  combination  of  excellences  as  Whitefield. 
Some,  no  doubt,  have  surpassed  liim  in  some 
of  his  gifts ;  others,  perhaps,  have  been  his 
equals  in  others.  But,  for  a  combination  of 
pure  doctrine,  simple  and  lucid  style,  boldness 
and  directness,  earnestness  and  fervor,  descrip- 
tiveness  and  picture-drawing,  pathos  and  feel- 
ing— united  Tvith  a  perfect  voice,  perfect  de- 
livery, and  perfect  command  of  words,  White- 
field,  I  repeat,  stands  alone.  No  man,  dead 
or  alive,  I  believe,  ever  came  alongside  of  him. 
And  I  believe  you  will  always  find,  that  just 
in  proportion  as  preachers  have  approached 
that  curious  combination  of  excellences  which 
Whitefield  possessed,  just  in  that  ver^  propor- 
tion have  they  attained  what  Clarendon  defines 
true  eloquence  to  be,  viz.,  "a  strange  power 
of  making  themselves  believed." 

V.  And  now,  there  only  remains  one  more 
point  connected  with  Whitefield  to  which  I 
wish  to  advert.  I  fear  that  I  shall  have  ex- 
hausted your  attention  already.  But  the  point 
is  one  of  such  importance,  that  it  can  not  be 


1^ 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


215 


passed  over  in  silence.  The  point  I  mean  is, 
the  actual  amount  of  real  good  that  Whitefield 
did. 

You  will,  I  hope,  understand  me,  when  I 
say,  that  the  materials  for  forming  an  opinion 
on  this  point  in  a  history  like  his,  must  neces- 
sarily be  scanty.  He  founded  no  denomina- 
tion among  whom  his  name  was  embalmed, 
and  his  every  act  recorded,  as  did  John  Wes- 
ley. He  headed  no  mighty  movement  against 
a  Church  which  openly  professed  false  doc- 
trines, as  Luther  did  against  Eome.  He  wrote 
no  books  which  were  to  be  the  religious  clas- 
sics of  the  million,  like  John  Bunj^an.  He 
was  a  simple,  guileless  man,  who  lived  for  one 
thing  only,  and  that  was  to  preach  Christ.  K 
he  succeeded  in  doing  that  effectually,  he  cared 
for  nothing  else.  He  did  nothing  to  preserve 
llie  memory  of  his  usefulness.  He  left  his 
work  with  the  Lord. 

Of  course,  there  are  many  people  who  can 
see  in  Whitcfield  nothing  but  a  fanatic  and  en- 
thusiast. There  is  a  generation  that  loathes 
every  thing  like  zeal  in  religion.    There  are 


216  LIFE  AND  LABOES  OF 


never  wanting  men  of  a  cautious,  cold-blooded, 
Erasmus-like  temper,  who  pass  through  the 
world  doing  no  good,  because  they  are  so 
dreadfully  afraid  of  doing  harm.  I  do  not 
expect  such  men  to  admire  Whitefield,  or  al- 
low he  did  any  good.  I  fear,  if  they  had  lived 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  they  would  have 
had  no  s\'mpathy  with  St.  Paul. 

Again,  there  are  other  people  "\\'ho  count 
schism  a  far  greater  crime  than  either  heresy 
or  false  doctrine.  There  is  a  generation  of 
men  who  under  no  circumstances  will  worship 
God  out  of  their  own  parish :  and  as  to  sep- 
aration from  the  Church,  they  seem  to  think 
that  nothing  whatever  can  justify  it.  I  do 
not,  of  course,  expect  such  men  to  admire 
Whitefield  or  his  work.  His  principle  evi- 
dently was,  that  it  was  far  better  for  men  to  be 
uncanonically  saved  than  canonically  damned. 

Whether  by  any  other  line  of  actionWhite- 
field  could  have  remained  in  the  Church,  and 
retained  his  usefulness,  is  a  question  which,  at 
this  distance  of  time,  we  are  very  incompetent 
to  answer.    That  he  erred  in  temper  and  judg- 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD.  217 


ment  in  his  dealings  witli  the  bishops  and 
clergy,  in  many  instances,  I  have  no  doubt. 
That  he  raised  up  fresh  bodies  of  separatists 
from  the  Church  of  England,  and  made 
breaches  which  probably  will  never  be  repair- 
ed, I  have  no  doubt  also.  But  still  it  must 
never  be  forgotten,  that  the  state  of  the  Church 
was  bad  enough  to  provoke  a  holy  indignation. 
The  old  principle  is  most  true,  that  "he  is  the 
schismatic  who  causes  the  separation,  and  not 
he  who  separates."  If  Whitefield  did  harm, 
the  harm  ought  to  be  laid  on  the  Church  which 
compelled  him  to  act  as  iie  did,  quite  as  much 
as  on  him.  And  when  we  come  to  strike  the 
balance,  I  believe  the  harm  he  may  have  done 
is  outweighed  by  the  good  a  thousand-fold. 

The  truth  I  believe  is  that  the  direct  good 
Whitefield  did  to  immortal  souls  was  enor- 
mous. I  will  go  further.  I  believe  it  is  incalcu- 
lable. In  Scotland,  in  England,  in  America, 
credible  witnesses  have  recorded  their  testi- 
mony that  he  was  the  means  of  converting 
thousands  of  souls. 

Franklin,  the  philosopher,  was  a  cold,  cal- 
19 


218  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


culating  man,  and  not  likely  to  speak  too 
highly  of  any  minister's  work.  Yet  even  he 
confessed  that  it  "  was  wonderful  to  see  the 
change  soon  made  by  his  preaching  in  the 
manners  of  the  inhabitants  of  Philadelphia, 
From  being  thoughtless  or  indifferent  about 
religion,  it  seemed  as  if  all  the  world  were 
growing  rehgious." 

Maclaurin  and  Willison  were  Scotch  minis- 
ters, whose  names  are  well-known  to  theolog- 
ical readers,  and  stand  deservedly  high.  Both 
of  them  have  testified  that  "Whitefield  did  an 
amazing  work  in  Scotland.  Willison,  in  par- 
ticular, says:  "That  God  honored  him  with 
surprising  success  among  sinners  of  all  ranks 
and  persuasions." 

Old  Venn,  in  our  own  Church,  was  a  man 
of  strong  common  sense,  as  well  as  great  grace. 
His  opinion  was,  that  "  if  the  greatness,  ex- 
tent, success,  and  disinterestedness  of  a  man's  la- 
bors can  give  him  distinction  among  the  children 
of  Christ,  then  we  are  warranted  to  affirm,  that 
scarce  any  has  equaled  Mr.  Whitefield." 
Again,  he  says,  "  It  is  a  well-known  fact,  that 


GEOKGE  WHITEFIELD. 


219 


the  conversion  of  men's  souls  has  been  the 
fruit  of  a  single  sermon  from  his  lips,  so  emi- 
nently was  he  made  a  fisher  of  men,"  And 
again,  "  Though  we  are  allowed  to  sorrow  that 
we  shall  never  see  or  hear  him  again,  we  must 
still  rejoice  that  millions  have  heard  him  so 
long,  so  often,  and  to  such  good  effect;  and 
that  out  of  this  mass  of  people,  multitudes  are 
gone  before  him  to  hail  his  entrance  into  the 
world  of  glory." 

John  Newton  was  a  shrewd  man,  as  well  as 
an  eminent  minister  of  the  Gospel.  His  testi- 
mony is,  "I  am  not  backward  to  say,  that  I 
have  not  read  or  heard  of  any  person,  since 
the  apostles'  days,  of  whom  it  may  more  em- 
phatically be  said,  he  was  a  burning  and  a 
shining  light,  than  the  late  Mr.  Whitefield, 
whether  we  consider  the  warmth  of  his  zeal, 
the  greatness  of  his  ministerial  talents,  or 
the  extensive  usefulness  with  which  the  Lord 
honored  him." 

These  are  not  solitary  testimonies.  I  might 
add  many  more  if  time  permitted.  Eomaine 
did  not  agree  with  him  in  many  things,  yet 


220  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


what  does  lie  say  of  him  ?  "  We  have  none 
left  to  succeed  him ;  none,  of  his  gifts ;  none, 
any  thing  like  him  in  usefulness."  Toplady 
was  a  tremendous  high  Calvinist,  and  not  dis- 
posed to  over-estimate  the  number  of  saved 
souls.  Yet  he  says,  "Whitefield's  ministry  was 
"attended  with  spiritual  benefit  to  tens  of 
thousands ;"  and  he  styles  him  "  the  apostle  of 
the  British  empire,  and  the  prince  of  preach- 
ers." Hervey  was  a  quiet,  literary  man,  whose 
health  seldom  allowed  him  to  quit  the  retire- 
ment of  Weston  Favell.  But  he  says  of 
Whitefield,  "  I  never  beheld  so  fair  a  copy  of 
our  Lord,  such  a  living  image  of  the  Saviour. 
I  can  not  forbear  applying  the  wise  man's  en- 
comiums of  an  illustrious  woman  to  this  emi- 
nent minister  of  the  everlasting  Gospel :  '  Many 
sons  have  done  virtuously,  but  thou  excellest 
them  all'  " 

But  if  the  amount  of  direct  good  that  White- 
field  did  in  the  world  was  great,  who  shall  teU 
us  the  amount  of  good  that  he  did  indirectly  f  I 
believe  it  never  can  be  reckoned  up.  I  suspect 
it  will  never  be  fully  known  until  the  last  day. 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD, 


221 


WWtefield  was  among  the  first  loho  stirred 
up  a  zeal  for  the  pure  Gospel  among  the  clergy 
and  la  ity  of  our  own  Church.  His  constant  as- 
sertion of  pure  Eeformation  principles — his 
repeated  references  to  the  Articles,  Prayer 
Book,  and  Homilies — his  never-answered  chal- 
lenges to  his  opponents  to  confute  him  out  of 
the  Formularies  of  their  own  communion — all 
this  must  have  produced  an  effect,  and  set 
many  thinking.  I  have  no  doubt  whatever, 
that  many  a  faithful  minister,  who  became  a 
shining  light  in  those  days  within  the  Church 
of  England,  first  lighted  his  candle  at  the  lamp 
of  a  man  outside. 

Whitefield,  again,  was  among  the  first  to 
show  the  right  way  to  meet  infidels  and  skeptics. 
He  saw  clearly  that  the  most  powerful  weapon 
against  such  men  is  not  metaphysical  reasoning 
and  critical  disquisition;  but  preaching  the 
whole  Gospel,  living  the  whole  Gospel,  and 
snreading  the  whole  Gospel.  It  was  not  the 
writings  of  Leland,  and  the  younger  Sherlock, 
and  Waterland,  and  Leslie,  that  rolled  back 
the  flood  of  infidelity  one  half  so  much  as  the 
19* 


222  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


preaching  of  Whitefield,  and  Wesley,  and 
Fletcher,  and  Romaine,  and  Berridge,  and 
Venn.  Had  it  not  been  for  them,  I  firmly  be- 
lieve we  might  have  had  a  counterpart  of  the 
French  Revolution  in  our  own  land.  They 
were  the  men  who  were  the  true  champions 
of  Christianity.  Infidels  are  seldom  shaken 
by  mere  abstract  reasoning.  The  surest  argu- 
ments against  them  are  Gospel  truth  and  Gos- 
pel life. 

To  crown  all,  Whitefield  was  the  very  first 
who  seems  thoroughly  to  have  understood 
what  Chalmers  has  called  the  aggressive  system. 
He  did  not  wait  for  souls  to  come  to  him,  but 
he  went  after  souls.  He  did  not  sit  tamely  by 
bis  fireside,  mourning  over  the  wickedness  of 
the  land.  He  went  forth  to  beard  the  Devil 
in  his  high  places.  He  attacked  sin  and  wick- 
edness face  to  face,  and  gave  them  no  peace. 
He  dived  into  holes  and  corners  after  sinners. 
He  hunted  up  ignorance  and  vice  wherever  it 
could  be  found.  He  showed  that  he  thorough- 
ly realized  the  nature  of  the  ministerial  ofi&ce. 
Like  a  fisherman,  he  did  not  wait  for  the  fish 


GEORGE  WHTTEFIELD. 


223 


to  come  to  him.  Like  a  fisherman,  he  used 
every  kind  of  means  to  catch  souls.  Men 
know  a  little  more  of  this  now  than  they  did 
formerly.  City  Missions,  and  District  Visiting 
Societies  are  evidences  of  clearer  views.  But 
let  us  remember  this  was  all  comparatively 
new  in  Whitefield's  time,  and  let  us  give  him 
the  credit  he  deserves. 

In  short,  I  come  to  the  conclusion  that  no 
man  has  ever  done  more  good  in  his  day  and 
generation  than  the  man  who  is  the  subject  of 
this  lecture.  He  was  a  true  hero,  and  that  in 
its  highest  and  best  sense.  He  did  a  work 
that  will  stand  the  fire,  and  glorify  God,  when 
many  other  works  are  forgotten.  And  for  that 
work  I  believe  that  England  owes  a  debt  to  his 
character  which  England  has  never  yet  paid. 

And  now,  I  hasten  to  a  conclusion.  I  have 
set  before  you,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  White- 
field's  time,  and  life,  and  religion,  and  preach- 
ing, and  actual  work.  I  have  not  extenuated 
his  faults,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge.  I 
have  not  exaggerated  his  good  qualities,  so 


224  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 


far  as  I  am  aware.  It  only  remains  for  me  to 
point  out  to  you  two  great  practical  lessona 
which  the  subject  appears  to  me  to  teach. 

Learn  then,  I  beseech  you,  for  one  lesson, 
the  amazing  power  that  one  single  man  possesses, 
when  he  is  determined  to  work  for  God,  and 
has  got  truth  on  his  side. 

Here  is  a  man  who  starts  in  life  with  every 
thing,  to  all  appearance,  against  him.  He  has 
neither  family,  nor  place,  nor  money,  nor 
high  connections  on  his  side.  His  views  are 
flatly  opposed  to  the  customs  and  prejudices 
of  his  time.  He  stands  in  direct  opposition  to 
the  stream  of  public  taste,  and  the  religion  of 
the  vast  bulk  of  ministers  around  him.  He  is 
as  much  isolated  and  alone,  to  all  appearances, 
as  Martin  Luther  opposing  the  Pope,  as  Atha- 
nasius  resisting  the  Arians,  as  Paul  on  Mars' 
Hill.  And  yet  this  man  stands  his  ground. 
He  arrests  public  attention.  He  gathers  crowds 
around  him  who  receive  his  teaching.  He  is 
made  a  blessing  to  tens  of  thousands.  He 
turns  the  world  upside  down.  How  striking 
these  facts  axe  I 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD.  225 


Here  is  your  encouragement,  if  you  stand 
aJone.  You  have  no  reason  to  be  cast  down 
and  faint-hearted.  You  are  not  weak,  though 
few,  if  God  is  with  you.  There  is  nothing  too 
great  to  be  done  by  a  little  company,  if  only 
they  have  Christ  on  their  side.  Away  with 
the  idea  that  numbers  alone  have  power !  Cast 
away  the  old  vulgar  error  that  majorities 
alone  have  strength.  Get  firm  hold  of  the 
great  truth  that  minorities  always  move  the 
world.  Think  of  the  little  flock  that  our  Lord 
left  behind  him,  and  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty  names  in  that  upper  chamber  in  Jeru- 
salem, who  went  forth  to  assault  the  heathen 
world !  Think  of  George  "Whitefield  assailing 
boldly  the  ungodliness  which  deluged  all 
around  him,  and  winning  victory  after  victory! 
Think  of  all  this.  Cast  fear  away.  Lay  out 
your  talents  heartily  and  confidently  for  God- 
Here,  also,  is  your  example^  if  you  desire  to 
do  good  to  souls.  Whether  you  become  min- 
isters, or  missionaries,  or  teachers,  never  forget 
you  must  fight  with  Whitefield's  weapons,  if 
you  wish  to  have  any  portion  of  Whitefield'a 


226  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OP 


success.  Never  forget  what  John  "Wesley  said 
was  Whitefield's  theology — "  Give  God  all  the 
glorj-  of  whatever  is  good  in  man :  set  Christ 
as  high  and  man  as  low  as  possible,  in  the  bu- 
siness of  salvation.  All  merit  is  in  the  blood 
of  Christ,  and  all  power  is  from  the  Spirit  of 
Christ." 

Think  not  for  a  moment  that  earnestness 
alone  will  insure  success.  This  is  a  huge  de- 
lusion. It  will  do  nothing  of  the  kind.  All 
the  earnestness  in  the  world  will  never  enable 
a  teacher  of  German  Uieology  to  show  you  one 
Tinnevelly,  or  a  teacher  of  semi  Popery  one 
Sierra  Leone.  Oh,  no !  it  must  be  the  simple, 
pure,  unadulterated  Gospel  that  you  must  carry 
with  you,  if  you  are  to  do  good.  You  must 
sow  as  Whitefield  sowed,  or  you  will  never 
reap  as  he  reaped. 

Learn,  in  the  last  place,  what  abundant  rea- 
sons we  have  for  thankfulness  in  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  Church  of  England. 

We  are  far  too  apt  to  look  at  the  gloomy  side 
of  things  around  us,  and  at  that  only.  We 
are  all  prone  to  dwell  on  the  faults  of  our  con 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


227 


dition,  and  to  forget  to  bless  God  for  our  mer- 
cies. There  are  many  things  we  could  wish 
otherwise  in  our  beloved  Church,  beyond  all 
question.  There  are  defects  we  could  wish  to 
see  remedied,  and  wounds  we  should  gladly 
see  healed.  But  still,  let  us  look  behind  us, 
and  compare  the  Church  of  our  day  with  the 
Church  of  Whitefield's  times.  Look  on  this 
picture,  and  on  that,  and  I  am  sure,  if  you  do 
so  honestly  and  fairly,  you  will  agree  with  me 
that  we  have  reason  to  be  thankful. 

We  have  bishops  on  the  bench  now,  who 
love  the  simple  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and  are 
ready  to  help  forward  good  works — bishops 
who  are  not  ashamed  to  come  forward  in  Exe- 
ter Hall,  and  lend  their  aid  to  the  extension 
of  Christ's  Gospel — bishops  who  would  have 
welcomed  a  man  like  Whitefield,  and  found 
fall  occupation  for  his  marvelous  gifts.  Let 
us  thank  God  for  this.  It  was  not  so  a  hun- 
dred years  ago. 

We  have  hundreds  of  clergymen  in  our  par- 
ishes now,  who  preacb  as  full  a  Gospel  as 
Whtitefield  did,  though  they  may  not  do  it 


228  LIFE  AND  LABOKS  OF 


•with,  the  same  power — clergymen  who  are  not 
ashamed  of  the  doctrine  of  regeneration,  and 
do  not  pronounce  a  minister  a  heretic,  because 
he  says  to  ungodly  people,  "  Ye  must  be  born 
again."  Let  us  thank  God  for  this.  A  man 
need  not  travel  many  miles  now  in  order  to 
find  parishes  where  the  Gospel  is  preached. 
When  driven  out  of  one  parish  church  he  can 
find  truth  in  another.  It  was  not  so  a  hun- 
dred years  ago. 

We  have  thousands  of  laymen  now,  who  are 
fully  alive  to  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of 
members  of  a  Protestant  Church — laymen  who 
rejoice  in  holding  up  the  hands  of  evangelical 
ministers,  and  are  righteously  jealous  for  the 
maintenance  and  extension  of  evangelical  truth. 
Let  us  thank  God  for  this.  It  was  not  so  a 
hundred  years  ago. 

We  have  societies  and  agencies  for  evangeliz- 
ing every  dark  comer  of  the  earth  in  connec- 
tion with  our  Church,  We  have  wide  and 
effectual  doors  of  usefulness  for  all  who  are 
willing  to  labor  in  the  Lord's  vineyard.  The 
difficulty  now  is,  not  so  much  to  find  openings 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


229 


for  doing  good,  as  to  find  men.  Let  us  thank 
Grod  for  this.  It  was  not  so  a  hundred  years 
ago. 

Young  men  of  the  Church  of  England,  I  ask 
you  to  gather  up  these  facts,  and  treasure  them 
in  your  memories.  They  are  facts.  They  can 
not  be  gainsayed.  Treasure  them  up,  I  repeat. 
Look  back  a  century,  and  then  look  around 
you,  and  then  judge  for  yourselves  whether 
you  ought  not  to  be  thankful. 

Beware,  I  beseech  you,  of  that  tribe  of  men 
who  would  fain  persuade  you  to  forsake  the 
Church  of  England,  and  separate  from  her 
communion.  There  is  a  generation  of  mur- 
murers  and  complainers  in  the  present  day, 
who  seem  to  revel  in  picking  holes — a  genera- 
tion that  seems  to  forget  that  fault-finding  is 
the  easiest  task  in  all  the  world — a  generation 
that  has  no  eyes  to  see  the  healthy  parts  in  our 
body  ecclesiastic,  but  has  a  wonderfully  quick 
and  morbid  scent  for  detecting  its  sores — a 
generation  that  is  mighty  to  scatter,  but  impo- 
tent to  build — a  generation  that  would  per- 
suade churchmen  to  strain  at  gnats,  but  finda 


230 


LIFE  AND  LABORS  OP 


no  dif&culty  itself  in  swallowing  camels — a 
generation  that  would  have  you  pull  the  old 
house  down,  but  can  not  offer  you  so  much  as 
a  tent  in  its  place :  of  all  such  men  I  say  sol- 
emnly and  affectionately — of  all  such  men  I 
warn  you  to  beware.  Listen  not  to  them. 
Have  no  friendship  with  them.  Avoid  them. 
Turn  from  them.    Pass  away. 

Let  us  not  leave  the  good  old  ship,  the 
Chubch  of  England,  until  we  have  some 
better  reason  than  can  at  present  be  seen. 
What  though  she  be  old  and  weather-beaten ! 
What  though,  in  some  respects,  she  may  want 
repair !  What  though  some  of  the  crew  be 
not  to  be  depended  on  I  Still,  with  all  her 
faults,  the  old  ship  is  in  far  better  trim  than 
she  was  a  century  ago.  Let  us  acknowledge 
her  faults,  and  hope  they  may  yet  be  amended. 
But  still,  with  all  her  faults,  let  us  stick  by  the 
ship! 

When  the  Thirty -nine  Articles  of  the  Church 
of  England  are  repealed,  and  the  Prayer  Book 
and  Homilies  so  altered  as  to  be  unprotestant- 
ized — when  regeneration  and  justification  hy 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD. 


231 


faith  are  forbidden  to  be  preached  in  ber  pid- 
pits — ^wben  tbe  Queen,  Lords  and  Commons, 
and  laity,  bave  assented  to  these  changes — in 
short,  when  the  Grospel  is  driven  out  of  the 
Estabbsbment — then,  and  not  tUl  then,  it  will 
be  time  for  you  and  me  to  go  out ;  but,  till 
then,  I  say.  Let  us  stick  by  the  Church  ! 


IV. 


IV. 

ftoelbt  fints  U  Iffititg  Pen. 

L-OUGHT  NOT  A  YOUNG  MAN  TO  THINK  ? 

Certainly  a  young  man  ought  to  think. 
Till  I  can  persuade  you  to  do  that,  I  have  done 
nothing.  The  very  first  request  I  make  to 
every  reader  of  this  address  is  this,  that  he 
"will  give  his  heart  the  benefit  of  a  little  quiet 
thinking. 

Want  of  thought  is  one  simple  reason  why 
thousands  of  souls  are  cast  away  forever.  Men 
will  not  consider, — will  not  look  forward, — will 
not  look  round  them, — will  not  reflect  on  the 
end  of  their  present  course,  and  the  sure  con- 
sequences of  their  present  ways, — and  awake 
at  last  to  find  they  are  damned  for  want  of 
thinking. 

Young  men,  none  are  in  more  danger  of  this 


236 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


than  yourselves.  Eecklessness  and  thought- 
lessness are  your  greatest  snares.  You  hate 
the  trouble  of  sober,  quiet  thinking,  and  so 
you  form  wrong  decisions,  and  run  your  heads 
into  sorrow.  Young  Esau  must  needs  have 
his  brother's  pottage,  and  sells  his  birthright : — 
he  never  thought  how  much  he  should  one  day 
want  it.  Young  Simeon  and  Levi  must  needs 
avenge  their  sister  Dinah,  and  slay  the  She- 
chemites  :  —  they  never  considered  how  much 
trouble  and  anxiety  they  might  bring  on  their 
father  Jacob  and  his  house.  It  is  one  of  God's 
solemn  charges  against  the  Jews  in  Isaiah's 
time,  "  My  people  doth  not  consider."  (Isaiah 
i.  3.) 

Believe  me,  this  world  is  not  a  world  in 
which  we  can  do  well  without  thinking,  and 
least  of  all  do  well  in  the  matter  of  our  souls. 
"  Don't  think,"  whispers  Satan  :  he  knows  that 
an  unconverted  heart  is  like  a  dishonest  trades- 
man's books,  it  will  not  bear  close  inspection. 
"  Consider  your  ways,"  says  the  word  of  God, — 
stop  and  thjnk, — consider  and  be  wise.  Well 
says  the  Spanish  proverb,  "Hurry  comes  of 


OUGHT  THEY  TO  THrNK  ?  237 


the  devil."  Just  as  men  marry  in  haste,  and 
then  repent  at  leisure,  so  they  make  mistakes 
about  their  souls  in  a  minute,  and  then  suffer 
for  it  for  years.  Just  as  a  bad  servant  does 
wrong,  and  then  says,  "I  never  gave  it  a 
thought,"  so  young  men  run  into  sin,  and  then 
say,  "  I  did  not  think  about  it, — it  did  not  look 
like  sin."  Not  look  like  sin !  What  would 
you  have  ?  Sin  will  not  come  to  you,  saying 
"  I  am  sin  :"  it  would  do  little  harm  if  it  did. 
Sin  always  seems  "  good,  and  pleasant,  and 
desirable,"  at  the  time  of  commission.  Oh ! 
get  wisdom,  get  discretion.  Remember  the 
words  of  Solomon:  "Ponder  the  paths  of  thy 
feet,  and  let  all  thy  ways  be  established." 
(Prov.  iv.  26.)  It  is  a  wise  saying  of  Lord 
Bacon,  "Do  nothing  rashly.  Stay  a  little, 
that  you  may  make  an  end  the  sooner." 

Some,  I  dare  say,  will  object  that  I  am  ask- 
ing what  is  unreasonable;  that  youth  is  not 
the  time  of  life  when  people  ought  to  be  grave 
and  thoughtful,  I  answer,  there  is  little  dan- 
ger of  their  being  too  much  so  in  the  present 
day.    Foolish  talking,  and  jesting,  and  jok- 


238 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  WES. 


ing,  and  excessive  merriment,  are  only  too 
common. 

Doubtless  there  is  a  time  for  all  things ;  but 
to  be  always  light  and  trifling  is  anything  but 
wise.  What  says  the  wisest  of  men? — "  It  is 
better  to  go  to  the  house  of  mourning,  than  to 
the  house  of  feasting ;  for  that  is  the  end  of  all 
men  ;  and  the  living  will  lay  it  to  heart.  Sor- 
row is  better  than  laughter :  for  by  the  sadness 
of  the  countenance,  the  heart  is  made  better. 
The  heart  of  the  wise  is  in  the  house  of  mourn- 
ing ;  but  the  heart  of  fools  is  in  the  house  of 
mirth."  (Eccles.  vii.  2,  3,  8.)  Matthew  Henry 
tells  a  story  of  a  great  statesman*  in  Queen 
Elizabeth's  time,  who  retired  from  public  life  in 
his  latter  days,  and  gave  himself  up  to  serious 
thought.  His  former  gay  companions  came  to 
visit  him,  and  told  him  he  was  becoming  melan- 
choly :  "  ISTo,"  he  replied,  "  I  am  serious  ;  for  all 
are  serious  round  about  me.  God  is  serious  in 
observing  us,— Christ  is  serious  in  interceding 
for  us, — the  Spirit  is  serious  in  striving  with 
us — the  truths  of  God  are  serious, — our  spirit- 

*  Secretary  Walsingham. 


WHAT  AEE  TOUR  PROSPECTS?  289 


ual  enemies  are  serious  in  their  endeavors  to 
ruin  us, — poor  lost  sinners  are  serious  in  hell, 
— and  why  then  should  not  you  and  I  be  seri- 
ous too  ?" 

Oh !  young  men,  learn  to  be  thoughtful. 
Learn  to  consider  what  you  are  doing,  and 
whither  you  are  going.  Make  time  for  calm 
reflection.  Commune  with  your  own  heart,  and 
be  still.  Do  not  be  lost  merely  for  want  of 
thought. 


n.-WHAT  ARE  YOUK  PROSPECTS  1 

A  WISE  man  will  always  look  forward.  To 
think  of  nothing  but  time  present  is  the  part 
of  a  fool.  There  are  two  things  to  which  the 
^  oung  should  look  forward,  as  well  as  the  old, 
and  these  two  are  death  and  judgment. 

Young  men,  it  is  appointed  unto  you  once 
to  die  ;  and  however  strong  and  healthy  you 
may  be  now,  the  day  of  your  death  is  perhaps 
very  near.  I  see  young  people  sick  as  well  as 
old.  I  bury  youthful  corpses  as  well  as  aged. 
I  read  the  names  of  persons  no  older  than 


240 


HINTS  TO  YOTJNG  MEN. 


yourselves  in  every  churchyard.  I  learn  from 
books  that,  excepting  infancy  and  old  age, 
more  die  between  thirteen  and  twenty-three, 
than  at  any  other  season  of  life.  And  yet 
you  often  live  as  if  you  were  sure  at  present 
not  to  die  at  all. 

Are  you  thinking  you  will  mind  these 
things  to-morrow?  Remember  the  words  of 
Solomon:  "Boast  not  thyself  of  to-morrow; 
for  thou  knowest  not  what  a  day  may  bring 
forth."  (Prov.  xxvii.  1.)  "  Serious  things  to- 
morrow," said  a  heathen*  to  one  who  warned 
him  of  coming  danger;  but  his  to-morrow 
never  came.  To-morrow  is  the  devil's  day, 
but  to-day  is  God's.  Satan  cares  not  how 
spiritual  your  intentions  may  be,  and  how 
holy  your  resolutions,  if  only  they  are  fixed 
for  to-morrow.  Oh !  give  not  place  to  the 
devil  in  this  matter ;  answer  him,  "  No !  Satan, 
it  shall  be  to-day,  to-day."  All  men  do  not 
live  to  be  Patriarchs,  like  Isaac  and  Jacob. 
Many  children  die  bef-^^o  their  fathers.  David 
had  to  mourn  the  death  of  his  two  finest  sons. 

*  Archias  the  Theban. 


WHAT  ARE  TOUR  PROSPECTS?  241 


Job  lost  all  his  ten  children  in  one  day.  Your 
lot  may  be  like  one  of  theirs,  and  when  death 
summons,  it  will  be  vain  to  talk  of  to-morrow, 
— ^you  must  go  at  once. 

Are  you  thinking  you  will  have  a  convenient 
season  to  mind  these  things  by  and  by  ?  So 
thought  Felix  and  the  Athenians,  to  whom 
Paul  preached ;  but  it  never  came.  Hell  is 
paved  with  such  fancies.  Better  make  sure 
work  while  you  can.  Leave  nothing  unsettled 
that  is  eternal.  Run  no  risks  when  your 
soul  is  at  stake.  Believe  me  the  salvation  of 
a  soul  is  no  easy  matter.  All  need  a  "great 
salvation,"  whether  young  or  old, — all  need  to 
be  born  again, — all  .need  to  be  washed  in. 
Christ's  blood, — all  need  to  be  sanctified  by 
the  Spirit.  Happy  is  that  man  who  does  not 
leave  these  things  uncertain,  but  never  rests 
till  he  has  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  within 
him,  that  he  is  a  child  of  God. 

Young  men,  your  time  is  short.  Your 
days  are  but  a  span  long — a  shadow — a  vapor 
— a  tale  that  is  soon  told.  Your  bodies  are 
not  brass.  "Even  the  young  men,"  says 
21 


242 


HINTS  TO  TOtJNG  MEN. 


Isaiah,  "shall  utterly  fall."  (Isaiah  xl.  30.) 
Your  health  may  be  taken  from  yoa  in  a  mo- 
ment : — it  only  needs  a  fall,  a  fever,  an  inflam- 
mation, a  broken  blood-vessel, — and  the  worm 
would  soon  feed  upon  you.  There  is  but  a 
step  between  any  one  of  you  and  death.  This 
night  your  soul  might  be  required  of  you. 
You  are  fast  going  the  way  of  all  the  earth, — 
you  will  soon  be  gone.  Your  life  is  all  un- 
certainty,— your  death  and  judgment  are  per- 
fectly sure.  You  too  must  hear  the  Arch- 
angel's trumpet,  and  go  forth  to  stand  before 
the  great  white  throne, — you  too  must  obey 
that  summons,  which  Jerome  says  was  always 
ringing  in  his  ears,  "  Arise,  ye  dead,  and  come 
to  judgment!"  "Surely  I  come  quickly,"  is 
the  language  of  the  Judge  himself  I  cannot, 
dare  not,  will  not  let  you  alone. 

Oh!  that  you  would  all  lay  to  heart  the 
words  of  the  Preacher :  "  Eejoice,  O  young 
man,  in  thy  youth ;  and  let  thy  heart  cheer 
thee  in  the  days  of  thy  youth,  and  walk  in  the 
ways  of  thine  heart,  and  in  the  sight  of  thine 
eyes :  but  know  thou,  that  for  aU  these  things 


WHAT  HAVE  THEY  TO  LOSE  ?  243 


God  will  bring  thee  into  judgment."  (Eccles. 
xi  9.)  Wonderful  tliat,  with  such  a  prospect, 
any  man  can  be  careless  and  unconcerned ! 
Surely  none  are  so  mad  as  those  who  are  con- 
tent to  live  unprepared  to  die.  Surely  the 
unbelief  of  men  is  the  most  amazing  thing  in 
the  world.  Well  may  the  clearest  prophecy 
in  the  Bible  begin  with  these  words,  "  Who 
hath  believed  our  report  ?"  (Isaiah  liii.  1.) 
Well  may  the  Lord  Jesus  say,  "  When  the 
Son  of  Man  cometh,  shall  He  find  faith  on  the 
earth  ?"  (Luke  xviii.  8.)  Young  men,  I  fear 
lest  this  be  the  report  of  many  of  you  in  the 
courts  above,  "  They  will  not  believe."  I  fear 
lest  you  be  hurried  out  of  the  world,  and 
awake  to  find  out  too  late,  that  death  and 
judgment  are  reahties. 


m.-HAVE  YOU  NOT  SOMETHING  TO  L0SE1 

You  have  something  belonging  to  you  of 
priceless  value.  You  have  a  soul.  Of  all  the 
things  that  God  has  given  you,  this  is  the  most 


244 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


important, — and  it  is  a  solemn  thought  that  a 
young  man  may  "lose  his  own  soul." 

Your  soul  is  eternal.  It  will  live  forever. 
The  world,  and  all  that  it  contains,  shall  pasa 
away, — firm,  solid,  beautiful,  well-ordered  as 
it  is, — the  world  shall  come  to  an  end :  "  The 
earth  and  the  works  that  are  therein  shall  be 
burned  up."  (2  Peter  iii.  10.)  The  works  of 
statesmen,  writers,  painters,  architects,  are  all 
short-lived :  your  soul  will  outlive  them  all. 
The  angel's  voice  shall  proclaim  one  day, 
that  "  Time  shall  be  no  longer."  (Rev.  x.  6.) — 
But  that  shall  never  be  said  of  your  souls. 

Try,  I  beseech  you,  to  realize  the  fact  that 
your  soul  is  the  one  thing  worth  living  for. 
It  is  the  part  of  you  which  ought  always  to  be 
first  considered.  No  place,  no  employment  is 
good  for  you,  which  injures  your  soul.  No 
fi-iend,  no  companion  deserves  your  confidence 
who  makes  light  of  your  soul's  concerns.  The 
man  who  hurts  your  person,  your  property, 
your  character,  does  you  but  temporary  harm. 
He  is  the  true  enemy  who  contrives  to  damage 
your  soul. 


WHAT  HAVE  THEY  TO  LOSE?  245 


Think  for  a  moment  what  you  were  sent 
into  the  world  for.  Not  merely  to  eat  and 
drink,  and  indulge  the  desires  of  the  flesh, — 
not  merely  to  dress  out  your  body,  and  follow 
its  lusts  whithersoever  they  may  lead  you, — not 
merely  to  work,  and  sleep,  and  laugh,  and 
talk,  and  enjoy  yourselves,  and  think  of  no- 
thing but  time.  No !  you  were  meant  for 
something  higher  and  better  than  this.  You 
were  placed  here  to  train  for  eternity.  Your 
body  was  only  intended  to  be  a  house  for  your 
immortal  spirit.  It  is  flying  in  the  face  of 
God's  purposes  to  do  as  many  do, — to  make 
the  soul  a  servant  to  the  body,  and  not  the 
body  a  servant  to  the  soul.* 

Young  men,  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons. 
He  regards  no  man's  coat,  or  purse,  or  rank, 
or  position.  He  sees  not  with  man's  eyes. 
The  poorest  saint  that  ever  died  in  a  work- 
house, is  nobler  in  His  sight  than  the  richest 
sinner  that  ever  died  in  a  palace.    God  does 

*  The  Assembly's  Larger  Catechism  begins  with  this  ad- 
mirable question  and  answer : — "  What  is  the  chief  and 
highest  end  of  man  ?"  "  To  glorify  Qod,  and  fully  to  enjoy 
him  forever." 

21* 


246 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


not  look  at  riches,  titles,  learning,  beauty,  or 
anything  of  the  kind.  One  thing  only  God 
(  does  look  at,  and  that  is  the  immortal  soul. 
He  measures  all  men  by  one  standard,  one 
measure,  one  test,  one  criterion,  and  that  is  tlie 
siaie  of  their  souls. 

Do  not  forget  this.  Keep  in  view  morning, 
noon,  and  night,  the  interests  of  your  soul. 
Rise  up  each  day  desiring  that  it  may  prosper, 
— lie  down  each  evening,  inquiring  of  your- 
self whether  it  has  really  got  on.  Remember 
Zeuxis,  the  great  painter  of  old.  When  men 
asked  him  why  he  labored  so  intensely,  and 
took  such  extreme  pains  with  every  picture, 
his  simple  answer  was,  "I  paint  for  eternity." 
Do  not  be  ashamed  to  be  like  him.  Set  your 
immortal  soul  before  your  mind's  eye,  and 
when  men  ask  you  why  you  live  as  you  do, 
answer  them  in  his  spirit,  "  I  live  for  my  soul." 
Believe  me,  the  day  is  fast  coming,  when  the 
soul  will  be  the  one  thing  men  will  think  of, 
and  the  only  question  of  importance  will  be 
this,  "  Is  my  soul  lost  or  saved?" 


IT  CAN  BE  DONE. 


247 


IV.-IT  CAN  BE  DONE. 

It  is  possible  to  be  a  young  man,  and  yet  to 
serve  God.  Religion  was  not  meant  for  par- 
sons and  old  women  only,  as  some  say.  It 
was  meant  for  young  as  well  as  old.  Remem- 
ber that. 

I  fear  the  snares  that  Satan  lays  for  you  on 
this  point.  I  fear  lest  he  succeed  in  filling 
your  minds  with  the  vain  notion,  that  to  be  a 
true  Christian  in  youth  is  impossible.  I  have 
seen  many  carried  away  by  this  delusion.  I 
have  heard  it  said,  "You  are  requiring  im- 
possibilities, in  expecting  so  much  religion 
from  young  people.  Youth  is  no  time  for  se- 
riousness. Our  desires  are  strong,  and  it  was 
never  intended  that  we  should  keep  them  un- 
der, as  you  wish  us  to  do.  God  meant  us  to 
enjoy  ourselves.  There  will  be  time  enough 
for  religion  by  and  bye."  And  this  kind  of 
talk  is  only  too  much  encouraged  by  the  world. 
The  world  is  only  too  ready  to  wink  at  youth- 
ful sins.  The  world  appears  to  think  it  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  that  young  men  must  "  sow  their 


248 


HINTS  TO  TOm^G  MEN. 


wild  oats."  The  world  seems  to  take  it  for 
granted,  young  people  must  be  irreligious,  and 
that  it  is  not  possible  for  them  to  follow  Christ. 

Young  men,  I  will  ask  you  this  simple 
question, — Where  will  you  find  anything  of 
all  this  in  the  Word  of  God  ?  Where  is  the 
chapter  or  verse  in  the  Bible  which  will  sup- 
port this  talking  and  reasoning  of  the  world  ? 
Does  not  the  Bible  speak  to  old  and  young 
alike,  without  distinction?  Is  not  sin,  sin, 
whether  committed  at  the  age  of  twenty  or 
fifty  ?  Will  it  form  the  slightest  excuse,  in 
the  day  of  judginent,  to  say,  I  know  I  sin- 
ned, but  then  I  was  young?"  Show  your 
common  sense,  I  beg  of  you,  by  giving  up 
such  vain  excuses.  You  are  responsible  and 
accountable  to  God  from  the  very  moment  that 
you  know  right  and  wrong. 

I  know  well  there  are  many  difficulties  in  a 
young  man's  way. — I  allow  it  fully.  But  there 
are  always  difficulties  in  the  way  of  doing 
right.  The  path  to  heaven  is  always  narrow, 
whether  we  be  young  or  old.- 

There  are  difficulties, — But  God  will  give 


IT  CAN  BE  DONE. 


249 


you  grace  to  overcome  them.  God  is  no  hard 
master.  He  will  not,  like  Pharaoh,  require 
you  to  make  bricks  without  straw.  He  will 
take  care  the  path  of  plain  duty  is  never  im- 
possible. He  never  laid  command  on  man, 
which  He  would  not  give  man  power  to  per- 
form. 

There  are  difficulties, — but  many  a  young 
man  has  overcome  them  hitherto,  and  so  may 
you.  Moses  was  a  young  man  of  like  passions 
with  yourselves ; — but  see  what  is  said  of  him 
in  Scripture,  "  By  faith  Moses,  when  he  was 
come  to  age,  refused  to  be  called  the  son  of 
Pharaoh's  daughter ;  choosing  rather  to  suffer 
affliction  with  the  people  of  Grod,  than  to  enjoy 
the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season ;  esteeming 
the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than  the 
treasures  of  Egypt,  for  he  had  respect  unto  the 
recompense  of  the  reward."  (Heb.  xi.  24,  25, 
26.)  Daniel  was  a  young  man  when  he  began 
to  serve  God  in  Babylon.  He  was  surrounded 
by  temptations  of  every  kind.  He  had  few 
with  him,  and  many  against  him.  Yet  Dan- 
iel's life  was  so  blameless  and  consistent,  that 


250 


IIIXTS  TO  YOUNG  MEX. 


even  his  enemies  could  find  no  fault  in  him, 
except  "concerning  the  law  of.  his  God." 
(Dan.  vi.  5.)  And  these  are  not  solitary  cases. 
There  is  a  cloud  of  witnesses  whom  I  could 
name.  Time  would  fail  me,  if  I  were  to  tell 
you  of  young  Isaac,  young  Joseph,  young 
Joshua,  young  Samuel,  young  David,  young 
Solomon,  young  Abijah,  young  Obadiah, 
young  Josiah,  young  Timothy.  These  were 
not  angels,  but  men,  with  hearts  naturally  like 
your  own.  They  too  had  obstacles  to  contend 
with,  lusts  to  mortify,  trials  to  endure,  hard 
places  to  fill,  like  any  of  yourselves.  But 
young  as  they  were,  they  all  found  it  possible 
to  serve  God.  Will  they  not  all  rise  in  judg- 
ment and  condemn  you,  if  you  persist  in  say- 
ing it  cannot  be  done  ? 

Young  men,  try  to  serve  God.  Resist  the 
devil,  when  he  whispers  it  is  impossible.  Try, 
■ — and  the  Lord  God  of  the  promises  will  give 
you  strength  in  the  trying.  He  loves  to  meet 
those  who  struggle  to  come  to  Him,  and  He 
will  meet  you  and  give  you  the  power  that 
you  feel  you  need.    Be  like  the  man,  whom 


WUO  IS  AFRAID  ? 


251 


Bunyan'3  Pilgrim  saw  in  the  interpreter's 
house, — go  forward  boldly,  saying,  "  Set  down 
my  name."  Those  words  of  our  Lord  are  true, 
though  I  often  hear  them  repeated  by  heartless 
and  unfeeling  tongues,  "  Seek  and  ye  shall 
find,  knock  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you." 
(Matt.  vii.  7.)  Difficulties  which  seemed  like 
mountains  shall  melt  away  like  snow  in  spi'ng. 
Obstacles  which  seemed  like  giants  in  the 
mist  of  distance,  shall  dwindle  into  nothing 
when  you  fairly  face  them.  The  lion  in  the 
way  which  you  fear,  shall  prove  to  be  chained. 
If  men  believed  the  promises  more,  they  would 
never  be  afraid  of  duties.  But  remember  that 
little  word  I  press  upon  you,  and  when  Satan 
says,  "  you  cannot  be  a  Christian  while  you 
are  young, "  answer  him,  "  Get  thee  behind 
me,  Satan,  by  God's  help  /  will  try." 


,  V.-WHO  IS  AFBAID1 

Many,  I  suspect,  are  afraid  if  the  truth  were 
known.    Beware,  I  say  to  every  young  man 


252 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


who  reads  this  address,  beware  of  being  influ- 
enced by  the  fear  of  man, 

"  The  fear  of  man  does  indeed  bring  a  snare." 
(Prov.  xxix.  25.)  It  is  terrible  to  observe  the 
power  which  it  has  over  most  minds,  and  es- 
pecially over  the  minds  of  the  young.  Few 
seem  to  have  any  opinions  of  their  own,  or  to 
think  for  themselves.  Like  dead  fish,  they  go 
with  the  stream  and  tide ;  what  others  think 
right,  they  think  right ;  and  what  others  call 
wrong,  they  call  wrong  too.  There  are  not 
many  original  thinkers  in  the  world.  Most  men 
are  like  sheep,^ — they  follow  a  leader.  If  it  was 
the  fashion  of  the  day  to  be  Romanists,  they 
would  be  Romanists, — if  to  be  Mahometans, 
they  would  be  Mahometans.  They  dread  the 
idea  of  going  against  the  current  of  the  times. 
In  a  word,  the  opinion  of  the  day  becomes 
their  religion,  their  creed,  their  Bible,  and  their 
God. 

The  thought,  "  "What  will  my  friends  say  or 
think  of  me,"  nips  many  a  good  inclination  in 
the  bud.  The  fear  of  being  observed  upon, 
laughed  at,  ridiculed,  prevents  many  a  good 


WHO  IS  AFKAID  ? 


253 


habit  being  taken  up.  There  are  Bibles  thai 
would  be  read  this  very  day,  if  the  owners 
dared.  They  know  they  ought  to  read  them, 
but  they  are  afraid  : — "  What  will  people  say  ?" 
There  are  knees  that  would  be  bent  in  prayer 
this  very  night,  but  the  fear  of  man  forbids 
it: — "What  would  my  wife,  my  brother,  my 
friend,  my  companion  say,  if  they  saw  me 
praying  ?"  Alas  !  what  wretched  slavery  this 
is,  and  yet  how  common  !  "I  feared  the  peo- 
ple," said  Saul  to  Samuel :  and  so  he  trans- 
gressed the  commandment  of  the  Lord.  (1 
Sam.  XV.  24.)  "  I  am  afraid  of  the  Jews,"  said 
Zedekiah,  the  graceless  king  of  Judah :  and 
so  he  disobeyed  the  advice  which  Jeremiah, 
gave  him.  (Jerem.  xxxviii.  19.)  Herod  was 
afraid  of  what  his  guests  would  think  of  him : 
so  he  did  that  which  made  him  "exceeding 
sorry," — he  beheaded  John  the  Baptist.  Pi- 
late feared  offending  the  Jews :  so  he  did  that 
which  he  knew  in  his  conscience  was  unjust, — ■ 
he  delivered  up  Jesus  to  be  crucified.  If  this 
De  not  slavery,  what  is  ? 
Young  men,  I  want  you  all  to  be  free  from  this 
22 


251 


IltN-TS  TO  TOUNG  ilEX. 


bondage.  I  want  you  each  to  care  nothing  for 
man's  opinion,  when  the  path  of  duty  is  clear. 
Believe  me,  it  is  a  great  thing  to  be  able  to  say 
"No!"  Here  was  good  king  Jehoshaphat's 
weak  point, — he  was  too  easy  and  yielding  in 
his  dealings  Avith  Ahab,  and  hence  many  of 
his  troubles.  (1  Kings  xxii.  4.)  Learn  to  say 
"  No  I"  Let  not  the  fear  of  not  seeming  good- 
natured  make  you  unable  to  do  it.  When 
sinners  entice  you,  be  able  to  say  decidedly,  I 
wUl  "not  consent."    (Prov.  i.  10.) 

Consider  only  how  unreasonable  this  fear  of 
man  is.  How  shortlived  is  man's  enmity,  and 
how  little  harm  can  he  do  you !  "  Who  art 
thou,  that  thou  shouldest  be  afraid  of  a  man 
that  shall  die,  and  of  the  son  of  man,  which 
shall  be  as  grass  :  and  forgettest  the  Lord  thy 
Maker,  that  hath  stretched  forth  the  heavens, 
and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth."  (Isaiah 
li.  12,  13.)  And  how  tliankless  is  this  fear! 
None  will  really  think  better  of  you  for  it.  The 
world  always  respects  those  most  who  act  bold- 
ly for  God.  Oh !  break  these  bonds,  and  cast 
these  chains  from  you.    Never  be  ashamed  of 


WHO  IS  AFRAID? 


255 


letting  men  see  you  want  to  go  to  heaven. 
'Think  it  no  disgrace  to  show  yourself  a  servant 
of  God.  Never  be  afraid  of  doing  what  is 
right. 

Remember  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus: 
"  Fear  not  them  which  kill  the  body,  but  are 
not  able  to  kill  the  soul :  but  rather  fear  Him 
which  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in 
hell."  (Matt.  x.  28.)  Only  try  to  please  God, 
and  He  can  soon  make  others  pleased  with 
you.  "  When  a  man's  ways  please  the  Lord, 
he  maketh  even  his  enemies  to  be  at  peace 
with  him."    (Prov.  xvi.  7.) 

Young  men,  be  of  good  courage, — care  not 
for  what  the  world  says  or  thinks:  you  will 
not  be  with  the  world  always.  Can  man  save 
your  soul  ? — No.  Will  man  be  your  judge  in 
the  great  and  dreadful  day  of  account  ? — No. 
Can  man  give  you  a  good  conscience  in  life, — 
a  good  hope  in  death, — a  good  answer  in  the 
morning  of  the  resurrection? — No,  no,  no. 
Man  can  do  nothing  of  the  sort.  Then,  "fear 
not  the  reproach  of  men,  neither  be  afraid  of 
their  revilings:  for  the  moth  shall  eat  them 


256 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


up  like  a  garment,  and  the  worm  shall  eat 
them  like  wool."  (Isaiah  li.  7,  8.)  Call  to 
mind  the  saying  of  good  Colonel  Gardiner  :  "I 
fear  God,  and  therefore  I  have  none  else  to 
fear."    Go,  and  be  like  him. 


VI.-DOES  PLEASURE  PAY1 

Pleasure  does  not  pay  most  certainly.  And 
yet  how  few  think  so !  How  many  fancy  noth 
ing  is  so  delightful  as  to  take  their  pleasure ! 
Take  heed,  I  cry,  to  every  reader  of  this  ad- 
dress, take  heed  and  beware  of  the  love  of 
pleasure. 

Youth  is  the  time  when  our  passions  are 
strongest ;  and  like  unruly  children,  cry  most 
loudly  for  indulgence.  Youth  is  the  time 
when  we  have  generally  most  health  and 
strength :  death  seems  far  away,  and  to  enjoy 
ourselves  in  this  life  at  first  sight  seems  every 
thing.  Youth  is  the  time  when  most  people 
have  few  earthly  cares  or  anxieties  to  take  uj» 
their  attention.    And  all  these  things  help  to 


DOES  PLEASTJEE  PAY? 


257 


make  young  men  think  of  nothing  so  much  , 
as  pleasure.    "  I  serve  lusts  and  pleasures," 
that  is  the  true  answer  many  a  young  man 
should  give,  if  asked,  "Whose  servant  are 
you?" 

Young  men,  time  would  fail  me,  if  I  were  to 
tell  you  all  the  fruits  this  love  of  pleasure  pro- 
duces, and  all  the  ways  in  which  it  may  do 
you  harm.  Why  should  I  speak  of  revelling, 
feasting,  drinking,  gambling,  theatre-going, 
dancing,  and  the  like  ?  Few  are  to  be  found 
who  do  not  know  something  of  these  things 
by  bitter  experience.  And  these  are  only  in- 
stances. All  things  that  give  a  feeling  of  ex- 
citement for  the  time, — all  things  that  drown 
thought,  and  keep  the  mind  in  a  constant 
whirl, — all  things  that  please  the  senses,  and 
gratify  the  flesh, — these  are  the  sort  of  things 
that  have  mighty  power  at  your  time  of  life, 
and  they  owe  their  jjower  to  the  love  of  pleas- 
ure. Be  on  your  guard.  Be  not  like  those 
of  whom  Paul  speaks,  "Lovers  of  pleasure 
more  than  lovers  of  God."  (2  Tim.  iii.  4.) 

Eemember  what  I  say,  if  you  will  cleave  to 
22* 


253 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


I  earthly  pleasures, — these  are  the  things  which 
murder  souls.  There  is  no  surer  way  to  get  a 
seared  conscience  and  a  hard  impenitent  heart, 
than  to  give  way  to  the  desires  of  the  flesh  and 
mind,  ^  It  seems  nothing  at  the  time,  but  it 
tells  in  the  long  run. 

Consider  what  Peter  says:  "Abstain  from 
fleshly  lusts,  which  war  against  the  soul."  (1 
Peter  ii.  11.)  They  destroy  ihe  soul's  peace, 
break  down  its  strength,  lead  it  into  hard  cap- 
tivity, make  it  a  slave. 

Consider  what  Paul  says :  "  Mortify  your 
members  which  are  upon  earth."  (Coloss.  iii. 
5.)  "They  that  are  Christ's  have  crucified 
the  flesh  with  its  affections  and  lusts."  (Galat. 
V.  23.)  "  I  keep  under  my  body  and  bring  it 
into  subjection."  (1  Cor.  ix.  27.)  Once  the 
body  was  a  perfect  mansion  for  the  soul : — 
now  it  is  all  corrupt  and  disordered,  and  needs 
constant  watching.  It  is  a  burden  to  the  soul, 
■ — not  a  help-meet ;  a  hindrance, — not  an  as- 
sistance. It  rhay  become  a  useful  servant,  but 
it  is  always  a  bad  master. 

Consider  again  the  words  of  Paul:  "  Put  ye 


DOES  PLEASURE  PAT  ? 


259 


on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  make  not  pro- 
vision for  the  flesh  to  fulfil  the  lusts  thereof." 
(Eom.  xiii.  14.)  "  These,"  says  Leighton,  "  are 
the  words,  the  very  reading  of  which  so  wrought 
with  Augustus,  that  from  a  licentious  young 
man,  he  turned  a  faithful  servant  of  Jesus 
Christ."  Young  men,  I  wish  this  might  be 
the  case  with  all  you. 

Remember  again,  if  you  will  cleave  to  earth- 
ly pleasures,  they  are  all  unsatisfying^  empty, 
and  vain.  Like  the  locusts  of  the  vision  in 
Eevelation,  they  seem  to  have  crowns  on  their 
heads:  but  like  the  same  locusts,  you  will 
find  they  have  stings — real  stings — in  their 
tails.  All  is  not  gold  that  glitters.  All  is  not 
good  that  tastes  sweet.  All  is  not  real  pleas- 
ure that  pleases  for  a  time. 

Go  and  take  your  fill  of  earthly  pleasures  if 
you  will, — you  will  never  find  your  heart  sat- 
isfied with  them.  There  will  always  be  a  voice 
within,  crying  lik  the  horse-leech  in  the  Prov- 
erbs, "  Give,  give."  There  is  an  empty  place 
there,  which  nothing  but  God  can  fill.  You 
will  find,  as  Solomon  did  by  experience,  that 


260  HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


earthly  pleasures  are  but  a  vain  show, — vanity 
and  vexation  of  spirit, — whited  sepulchres,  fair 
to  look  at  without,  full  of  ashes  and  corruption 
within.  Better  be  wise  in  time.  Better  write 
"  poison"  on  all  earthly  pleasure  .  The  most 
lawful  of  them  must  be  used  with  moderation. 
All  of  them  are  soul-destroying,  if  you  give 
them  your  heart.* 

And  here  I  will  not  shrink  from  warning  all 
young  men  to  remember  the  seventh  com- 
mandment;— to  beware  of  adultery  and  forni- 
cation, of  all  impurity  of  every  kind.  I  fear 
there  is  often  a  want  of  plain  speaking  on  this 
part  of  God's  law.  But  when  I  see  how  Proph- 
ets and  Apostles  have  dealt  with  this  subject, 
— when  I  observe  the  open  way  in  which  the 
Reformers  of  our  own  church  denounce  it, — 
when  I  see  the  number  of  young  men  who 
walk  in  the  footsteps  of  Reuben,  and  Hophni, 
and  Phinehas,  and  Amnon, — I  for  one  cannot, 
with  a  good  conscience,  hold  my  peace.  I 

*  "  Pleasure,"  says  Adams  on  2  Peter,  "  must  first  have 
the  warrant,  that  it  be  without  sin  ; — then  the  measure,  that 
it  be  without  excess." 


DOES  PLEASURE  PAY  ? 


261 


doubt  whether  the  world  is  any  better  for  the 
excessive  silence  which  prevails  about  this 
commandment.  For  my  own  part,  I  feel  it 
would  be  false  and  unscriptural  delicacy,  in 
addressing  young  men,  not  to  speak  of  that 
which  is  pre-eminently        young  marHs  sin.^'' 

The  breach  of  the  seventh  commandment  is 
the  sin  above  all  others,  that,  as  Hosea  says, 
"  Takes  away  the  heart."  (Hos.  iv.  11.)  It  is 
the  sin  that  leaves  deeper  scars  upon  the  soul 
than  any  sin  that  a  man  can  commit.  It  is  a 
sin  that  slays  its  thousands  in  every  age,  and 
has  overthrown  not  a  few  of  the  saints  of  God 
in  time  past.  Lot,  and  Samson,  and  David  are 
fearful  proofs.  It  is  the  sin  that  man  dares  to 
smile  at,  and  smooths  over  under  the  names  of 
gaiety,  unsteadiness,  wildness,  and  irregularity. 
But  it  is  the  sin  that  the  devil  peculiarly  re- 
joices over,  for  he  is  the  "  unclean  spirit ;"  and 
it  is  the  sin  that  God  peculiarly  abhors,  and 
declares  He  "will  judge."    (Heb.  xiii.  4.) 

Young  men,  "  flee  fornication,"  (1  Cor.  vi. 
8,)  if  you  love  life.  "  Let  no  man  deceive  you 
with  vain  words  :  for  because  of  these  things 


262 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


Cometh  the  wrath  of  God  upon  the  children  of 
disobedience."  (Ephes.  v.  6.)  Flee  the  occa- 
sions of  it, — the  company  of  those  who  might 
draw  you  into  it, — the  places  where  you  might 
be  tempted  to  it.  Eead  what  our  Lord  says 
about  it  in  Matthew  v.  28.  Be  like  holy  Job : 
"  Make  a  covenant  with  your  eyes."  (Job  xxxi. 
1.)  Flee  talking  of  it.  It  is  one  of  the  things 
that  ought  not  so  much  as  to  be  named.  You 
cannot  handle  pitch,  and  not  be  defiled.  Flee 
the  thoughts  of  it ;  resist  them,  mortify  them, 
pray  against  them, — make  any  sacrifice  rather 
than  give  way.  Imagination  is  the  hotbed 
where  this  sin  is  too  often  hatched.  Guard 
your  thoughts,  and  there  is  little  fear  about 
your  deeds. 

Consider  the  caution  I  have  been  giving. 
If  you  forget  all  else,  do  not  let  this  be  for- 
gotten. 


Vn— NO  GAINS  WITHOUT  PAINS. 

Men  know  that  well  in  worldly  matters.  It 
is  known  in  banks.   It  is  known  in  merchants' 


NO  GAINS  WITHOUT  PAINS.  263 


offices.  It  is  known  in  shops.  It  is  known 
in  the  Temple,  and  Lincoln's  Inn.  I  wish 
every  young  man  to  remember  this  in  the 
matters  of  his  soul.  If  your  soul  is  to  prosper, 
you  must  be  diligent  in  the  use  of  public  means 
of  grace. 

Be  regular  in  going  to  the  house  of  God, 
whenever  it  is  open  for  prayer  and  preaching, 
and  it  is  in  your  power  to  attend.  Be  regular 
in  keeping  the  Lord's  day  holy,  and  determine 
that  God's  day  out  of  the  seven,  shall  hence- 
forth always  be  given  to  its  rightful  owner. 

I  would  not  leave  any  false  impression  on 
your  minds.  Do  not  suppose  I  mean  that 
keeping  your  church  made  up  the  whole  of 
religion.  I  tell  you  no  such  thing.  I  have  no 
wish  to  see  you  grow  up  formalists,  and  Phar- 
isees. If  you  think  the  mere  carrying  your 
body  to  a  certain  house,  at  certain  times,  on  a 
certain  day  in  the  week,  will  make  you  a 
Christian,  and  prepare  you  to  meet  God,  I  tell 
you  flatly  you  are  miserably  deceived.  All 
services  without  heart-service  are  just  unprof- 
itable and  vain.    They  only  are  true  worship- 


264 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


pers  wlio  "  worship  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth : 
the  Father  seeketh  such  to  worship  Him." 
(John  iv.  23.) 

But  means  of  grace  are  not  to  be  despised 
because  they  are  not  saviours.  Gold  is  not 
food, — you  cannot  eat  it, — but  you  would  not 
therefore  say  it  was  useless,  and  throw  it  away. 
Your  soul's  eternal  well-doing  most  certainly 
does  not  depend  on  means  of  grace,  but  it  is 
no  less  certain  that  without  them,  as  a  general 
rule,  your  soul  will  not  do  well.  God  might 
take  all  who  are  saved  to  heaven  in  a  chariot 
of  fire,  as  He  did  Elijah,  but  He  does  not  do 
so.  He  might  teach  them  all  by  visions,  and 
dreams,  and  miraculous  interpositions,  without 
requiring  them  to  read  or  think  for  themselves, 
but  He  does  not  do  so.  And  why  not  ? — Be- 
cause He  is  a  God  that  works  by  means,  and 
it  is  His  law  and  will  that  in  all  man's  deal- 
ings with  Him  means  shall  be  used.  None  but 
a  fool  or  enthusiast  would  think  of  building  a 
house  without  ladders  and  scaffolding,  and  just 
so  no  wise  man  will  despise  means. 

I  will  dwell  the  more  on  this  point,  because 


NO  GAINS  WITHOUT  PAINS.  265 


Satan  will  try  hard  to  fill  your  minds  with  ar- 
guments against  means.  He  will  draw  your 
attention  to  the  numbers  of  persons  who  use 
them  and  are  no  better  for  the  using.  "See 
there,"  he  will  whisper,  "do  you  not  observe 
those  who  go  to  church  are  no  better  than 
those  who  stay  away?"  But  do  not  let  this 
move  you.  It  is  never  fair  to  argue  against  a 
thing  because  it  is  improperly  used.  It  does 
not  follow  that  means  of  grace  can  do  no  good, 
because  many  attend  on  them  and  get  no  good 
from  them. 

I  dwell  on  this  point  too,  because  of  the 
strong  anxiety  I  feel  that  every  young  man 
should  regularly  hear  the  preaching  of  Christ's 
Gospel.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  important  I 
think  this  is.  By  God's  blessing  the  ministry 
of  the  Gospel  might  be  the  means  of  convert- 
ing your  soul, — of  leading  you  to  a  saving 
knowledge  of  Christ, — of  making  you  a  child 
of  God  in  deed  and  in  truth.  This  would  be 
cause  for  eternal  thankfulness  indeed.  This 
would  be  an  event  over  which  angels  would 
rejoice.  But  even  if  this  were  not  the  case, 
23 


266 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


there  is  a  restraining  power  and  influence  in 
the  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  under  which  I 
earnestly  desire  every  young  man  to  be  brought. 
There  are  thousands  whom  it  keeps  back  from 
evil,  though  it  has  not  yet  turned  them  unto 
God;— it  has  made  them  far  better  members 
of  society,  though  it  has  not  yet  made  them 
true  Christians.  There  is  a  certain  kind  of 
sanctifying  power  in  the  faithful  preaching  of 
the  Gospel,  which  tells  insensibly  on  multi- 
tudes, who  listen  to  dt  without  receiving  it  into 
their  hearts.  To  hear  sin  cried  down  and 
holiness  cried  up,— to  hear  Christ  exalted,  and 
the  works  of  the  devil  denounced, — to  hear 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  its  blessedness  de- 
scribed, and  the  world  and  its  emptiness  ex- 
posed, to  hear  this  week  after  week,  Sunday 
after  Sunday,  is  seldom  without  good  effect  to 
the  soul.  It  makes  it  far  harder  afterwards  to 
run  into  any  excess  of  riot  and  profligacy.  It 
acts  as  a  wholesome  check  upon  a  man's  heart. 
This,  I  believe,  is  one  way  in  which  that  prom- 
ise of  God  is  made  good ;  "  My  word  shall  not 
return  unto  me  void."  (Isaiah  Iv.  11.)  There 


NO  GAINS  WITHOUT  PAINS.  267 


is  much  trutli  in  that  strong  saying  of  White- 
field  :  "  The  Gospel  keeps  many  a  one  from 
the  gaol  and  gallows,  if  it  does  not  keep  him. 
from  hell." 

Let  me  here  name  another  point  which  is 
closely  connected  with  this  subject.  Let  noth- 
ing ever  tempt  you  to  become  a  Sabbath- 
breaker.  I  press  this  on  your  attention. 
Make  conscience  of  giving  all  your  Sabbath  to 
God.  A  spirit  of  disregard  for  this  holy  day 
is  growing  up  amongst  us  with  fearful  rapidity, 
and  not  least  among  young  men.  Sunday 
travelling  by  railways  and  steam-boats,  Sun- 
day visiting,  Sunday  excursions,  are  becoming 
every  year  more  common  than  they  were,  and 
are  doing  infinite  harm  to  souls. 

Young  men,  be  jealous  on  this  point. 
Whether  you  Hve  in  town  or  country,  take 
up  a  decided  line ;  resolve  not  to  profane  your 
Sabbath.  Let  not  the  plausible  arguments  of 
"  needful  relaxation  for  3'our  body," — let  not 
the  example  of  all  around  you,^ — let  not  the  in- 
vitation of  companions  with  whom  you  may  be 
thrown, — let  none  of  these  things  move  you  to 


268 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


depart  from  this  settled  rule,  that  God's  day 
shall  be  given  to  God. 

Once  give  over  caring  for  the  Sabbath,  and 
in  the  end  you  will  give  over  caring  for  your 
soul.  The  steps  which  lead  to  this  conclusion 
are  easy  and  regular.  Begin  with  not  honor- 
ing God's  day,  and  you  will  soon  not  honor 
God's  house ; — cease  to  honor  God's  house,  and 
you  will  soon  cease  to  honor  God's  book ; — 
cease  to  honor  God's  book,  and  by  and  bye  you 
will  give  God  no  honor  at  all.  Let  a  man  lay 
the  foundation  of  having  no  Sabbath,  and  I  am 
never  surprised  if  he  finishes  with  the  topstone 
of  no  God.  It  is  a  remarkable  saying  of  Judge 
Ilale,  "  Of  all  the  persons  who  were  convicted 
cf  capital  crimes  while  he  was  upon  the  bench, 
he  found  only  a  few  who  would  not  confess, 
on  inquiry,  that  they  began  their  career  of 
wickedness  by  a  neglect  of  the  Sabbath." 

Young  men,  you  may  be  thrown  among 
companions  who  forget  the  honor  of  the  Lord's 
day ;  but  resolve,  by  God's  help,  that  you  will 
always  remember  it  to  keep  it  holy.  Honor  it 
by  a  regular  attendance  at  some  place  where 


THE  soul's  poison. 


269 


the  Gospel  is  preached.  Settle  down  under 
a  faithful  ministry,  and  once  settled,  let  your 
place  in  church  never  be  empty. 


VIII. -THE  SOUL'S  POISON. 

If  I  saw  a  man  drinking  slow  poison,  would 
I  not  try  to  stop  him  ?  Undoubtedly  I  would. 
But  there  is  no  poison  so  bad  as  sin,  and  there 
is  nothing  I  wish  a  young  man  to  understand 
so  thoroughly  as  the  evil  of  sin. 

Young  men,  if  you  did  but  know  what  sin 
is,  and  what  sin  has  done,  you  would  not 
think  it  strange  that  I  exhort  you  as  I  do. 
You  do  not  see  it  in  its  true  colors.  Your 
eyes  are  naturally  blind  to  its  guilt  and  danger, 
and  hence  you  cannot  understand  what  makes 
me  so  anxious  about  you.  Oh!  let  not  the 
devil  succeed  in  persuading  you  that  sin  is  a 
small  matter. 

Think  for  a  moment  what  the  Bible  says  about 
sin; — how  it  dwells  naturally  in  the  heart  of 
every  man  and  woman  alive,  (Eccles,  vii.  20. 
23* 


27G  HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


Eom.  23) — how  it  defiles  our  thoughts,  words, 
and  actions,  and  that  continually,  (Gen.  vi. 
5.  Matt.  XV.  19) — how  it  renders  us  all  guilty 
and  abominable  in  the  sight  of  a  holy  God. 
(Isaiah  Ixiv.  6.  Habak.  i.  13) — how  it  leaves 
Tis  utterly  without  hope  of  salvation,  if  we 
lock  to  ourselves,  (Psalm  cxliii.  20) — how 
its  fruit  in  this  world  is  shame,  and  its  wages 
in  the  world  to  come  death,  (Rom.  vi.  21,  23.) 
Think  calmly  of  all  this.  I  tell  you  this  day, 
it  is  not  more  sad  to  be  dying  of  consumption, 
and  not  to  know  it,  than  it  is  to  be  a  living 
man,  and  not  know  sin. 

Think  whot  an  aioful  change  sin  has  worked 
on  all  our  natures.  Man  is  no  longer  what  he 
was,  when  God  formed  him  out  of  the  dust  of 
the  ground.  He  came  out  of  God's  hand  up- 
right and  sinless.  (Eccles.  vii.  29.)  In  the 
day  of  his  creation  he  was  like  everything  else, 
"  very  good."  (Gen.  i.  31.)  And  what  is  man 
now  ?  A  fallen  creature,  a  ruin,  a  being  that 
shows  the  marks  of  corruption  all  over, — his 
heart  like  Nebuchadnezzar,  degraded  and 
earthly,  looking  down  and  not  up, — his  affec- 


THE  soul's  poison. 


271 


tions  like  a  household  in  disorder,  calling  no 
man  master,  all  extravagance  and  confusion, — 
his  understanding  like  a  lamp  flickering  in  the 
socket,  impotent  to  guide  him,  not  knowing 
good  from  evil,  his  vsrill  like  a  rudderless  ship, 
tossed  to  and  fro  by  every  desire,  and  constant 
only  in  choosing  an}^  way  rather  than  God's. 
Alas !  what  a  wreck  is  man,  compared  to  what 
he  might  have  been.  Well  may  we  understand 
such  figures  being  used,  as  blindness,  deafness, 
disease,  sleep,  death,  when  the  Spirit  has  to 
give  us  a  picture  of  man  as  he  is.  And  man 
as  he  is,  remember,  was  so  made  by  sin. 

Think  too,  -what  it  has  cost  to  iiiake  atonement 
for  sin,  and  to  provide  a  pardon  and  forgive- 
ness for  sinners.  God's  own  Son  must  come 
into  the  world,  and  take  upon  Him  our  nature, 
in  order  to  pay  the  price  of  our  redemption, 
and  deliver  us  from  the  curse  of  a  broken  law. 
He,  who  was  in  the  beginning  with  the  Father, 
and  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  must  suf- 
fer for  sin,  the  just  for  the  unjust, — must  die 
the  death  of  a  malefactor,  before  the  way  to 
heaven  can  be  laid  open  to  any  soul.    See  the 


272 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


Lord  Jesus  Christ  despised  and  rejected  of 
men,  scourged,  mocked,  and  insulted; — be- 
hold Him  bleeding  on  the  cross  of  Calvary ; — 
hear  Him  crying  in  agony,  "  My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?" — mark 
how  the  sun  was  darkened,  and  the  rocks  rent 
at  the  sight ;  and  then  consider,  young  men, 
what  must  be  the  evil  and  guilt  of  sin. 

Think,  also,  what  sin  has  done  already  upon 
earth.  Think  how  it  cast  Adam  and  Eve  out 
of  Eden, — brought  the  flood  upon  the  old 
world,^ — caused  fire  to  come  down  on  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah, — drowned  Pharaoh  and  his 
host  in  the  Red  Sea,— destroyed  the  seven 
wicked  nations  of  Canaan,' — scattered  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel  over  the  face  of  the 
globe.    Sin  alone  did  all  this. 

Think,  moreover,  of  all  the  misery  and  sorrow 
that  sin  has  caused,  and  is  causing  at  this  very 
day.  Pain,  disease,  and  death,— strifes,  quar- 
rels, and  divisions, — ynvy,  jealo'.:sy,  and  mal- 
ice,— deceit,  fraud,  and  cheating, — violence, 
oppression,  and  robbery, — selfishness,  unkind- 
ness,  and  ingratitude, — all  these  are  the  firuits 


THE  soul's  poison. 


27S 


of  sin.  Sin  is  the  parent  of  them  all.  Sin  it 
is  that  has  so  marred  and  spoiled  the  face  of 
God's  creation. 

Young  men,  consider  these  things,  and  you 
will  not  wonder  that  we  preach  as  we  do. 
Surely  if  you  did  but  think  of  them,  you 
would  break  with  sin  forever.  Will  you  play 
with  poison  ?  Will  you  sport  with  hell  ? 
Will  you  take  fire  into  your  hands?  Will 
you  harbor  your  deadliest  enemy  in  your 
bosom  ?  Will  you  go  on  living  as  if  it  matter- 
ed nothing  whether  your  own  sins  were  for- 
given or  not, — whether  sin  had  dominion  over 
you,  or  you  over  sin  ?  Oh !  awake  to  a  sense 
of  sin's  sinfulness  and  danger.  Remember  the 
words  of  Solomon,  "Fools,"  none  but  fools, 
*'  make  a  mock  at  sin."  (Prov.  xiv.  9.) 

Hear  then  the  request  that  I  make  you  this 
day,  pray  that  God  would  teach  you  the  real 
evil  of  sin.  As  ever  you  would  have  your 
sou]  saved,  arise  and  pray. 


274 


HIJTTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


rX-THE  SOUL'S  EEMEDY. 

If  I  had  discovered  a  certain  remedy  in  the 
time  of  the  cholera,  I  should  have  thought  it 
a  public  duty  to  make  it  known.  But  I  know 
a  remedy  for  the  worst  disease  in  the  world, 
even  for  sin,  and  I  want  all  young  men  to 
know  it  too.  I  wish  all  young  men  to  become 
acquainted  with  Jesus  Christ. 

This  is,  indeed,  the  principal  thing  in  re- 
ligion. This  is  the  corner-stone  of  Christian- 
ity. Tdl  you  know  this,  my  warnings  and 
advice  will  be  useless,  and  your  endeavors, 
whatever  they  may  be,  will  be  vain.  A  watch 
without  a  main-spring  is  not  more  unservice- 
able than  is  a  religion  without  Christ. 

But  let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  It  is  not 
the  mere  knowing  Christ's  name  that  I  mean, 
— it  is  the  knowing  His  mercy,  grace,  and 
power, — the  knowing  Him,  not  by  the  hearing 
of  the  ear,  but  by  the  experience  of  your  hearts. 
I  want  you  to  know  Him  by  faith, — I  want 
you,  as  Paul  says,  to  know  "  the  power  of  His 
resurrection ;  being  made  conformable  unto 


THE  soul's  EEMEDY. 


275 


His  death."  (Phil.  iii.  10.)  I  want  you  to  be  able 
to  say  of  Him,  He  is  my  peace  and  my  strength, 
my  life  and  my  consolation,  my  Physician, 
and  my  Shepherd,  my  Saviour  and  my  God. 

Why  do  I  make  such  a  point  of  this  ?  I  do 
it  because  in  Christ  alone  "all  fulness  dwells," 
(Colos.  i.  19) — because  in  Him  alone  there  is 
a  full  supply  of  all  that  we  require  for  the  ne- 
cessities of  our  souls.  Of  ourselves  we  are  all 
poor  empty  creatures, — empty  of  righteousness 
and  peace, — empty  of  strength  and  comfort, — 
empty  of  courage  and  patience, — empty  of 
power  to  stand,  or  go  on,  or  make  progress  in 
this  evil  world.  It  is  in  Christ  alone  that  all 
these  things  are  to  be  found, — grace,  peace, 
wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification,  and  re- 
demption. It  is  just  in  proportion  as  we  live 
upon  Him,  that  we  are  strong  Christians.  It 
is  only  when  self  is  nothing,  and  Christ  is  all 
in  our  confidence,  it  is  then  only  that  we  shall 
do  great  exploits.  Then  only  are  we  armed 
for  the  battle  of  life,  and  shall  overcome. 
Then  only  are  we  prepared  for  the  journey  of 
life,  and  shall  get  forward.    To  live  on  Christ, 


276 


HIOTS  TO  TOTING  MEN. 


to  draw  all  from  Christ,  to  do  all  in  the 
strength  of  Christ,  to  be  ever  looking  unto  Christ, 
— this  is  the  true  secret  of  spiritual  prosperity. 
"I  can  do  all  things,"  says  Paul,  "through 
Christ,  which  strengtheneth  me."  (Phil.  iv.  13.) 

Young  men,  I  set  before  you  Jesus  Christ 
this  day  as  the  treasury  of  your  soul ;  and  I  in- 
vite you  to  begin  by  going  to  Him,  if  you 
would  so  run  as  to  obtain.  Let  this  be  your 
first  step, — go  to  Christ.  Do  you  want  to  con- 
sult friends? — He  is  the  best  friend,  "  A  friend 
that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother."  (Prov. 
xviii.  24.)  Do  you  feel  unworthy  because  of 
your  sins?  Fear  not:  His  blood  cleanseth 
from  all  sin, — He  says,  "  Though  your  sins  be 
as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow; 
though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be 
as  wool."  (Isaiah  i.  18.)  Do  you  feel  weak, 
and  unable  to  follow  Him?  Fear  not:  He 
will  give  you  power  to  become  sons  of  God, — 
He  will  give  you  the  Holy  Ghost  to  dwell  in 
you,  and  seal  you  for  His  own, — a  new  heart 
will  He  give  you,  and  a  new  Spirit  will  He 
put  within  you.    Ai'e  you  troubled  or  beset 


1 


THE  SAFETY-LAMP. 


277 


with  peculiar  infirmities  ?  Fear  not :  there  is 
no  evil  spirit  that  Jesus  cannot  cast  out, — there 
is  no  disease  of  soul  that  He  cannot  heal.  Do 
you  feel  doubts  and  fears  ?  Cast  them  aside : 
"Come  unto  me,"  He  says:  "  Him  that  com- 
eth  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  He  knows 
well  the  heart  of  a  young  man.  He  knows 
your  trials  and  your  temptations,  your  difficul- 
ties and  your  foes.  In  the  days  of  His  flesh 
he  was  like  yourselves, — a  young  man  at 
Nazareth.  He  knows  by  experience,  a  young 
man's  mind.  He  can  be  touched  with  the 
feelings  of  your  infirmities, — for  He  suffered 
Himself,  being  tempted.  Surely  you  will  be 
without  excuse,  if  you  turn  away  from  such  a 
Saviour  and  Friend  as  this. 

Hear  the  request  I  make  of  you  this  day, — 
if  you  love  life,  seek  to  become  acquainted 
with  Jesus  Christ. 


X.-THE  SAFETY-LAMP. 

I  SHOULD  not  hke  any  one  that  I  loved  to 

go  down  into  a  coal-mine  without  a  safety- 
24 


278 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  AtEN. 


lamp.  And  I  would  fain  persuade  all  young 
men  who  read  this  address,  to  use  a  safety- 
lamp  in  this  dark  and  dangerous  world.  There 
is  one  ready  for  all  who  will  use  it.  That 
safety-lamp  is  the  Bible. 

The  Bible  is  God's  merciful  provision  for 
sinful  man's  soul, — the  map  by  which  he  must 
steer  his  course,  if  he  would  attain  eternal  life. 
All  that  we  need  to  know,  in  order  to  make  us 
peaceful,  holy,  or  happy,  is  there  richly  con- 
tained. If  a  young  man  would  know  how 
to  begin  life  well,  let  him  hear  what  David 
says :  "  Wherewithal  shall  a  young  man 
cleanse  his  way  ?  by  taking  heed  thereto  ac- 
cording to  thy  word."  (Psalm  cxix.  9.) 

Young  men,  I  charge  you  to  make  a  habit 
of  reading  the  Bible,  and  not  to  let  the  habit 
be  broken.  Let  not  the  laughter  of  compan- 
ions,— let  not  the  bad  customs  of  the  family 
you  may  live  in, — let  none  of  these  things  pre- 
vent your  doing  it.  Determine  that  you  will 
not  only  have  a  Bible,  but  also  make  time  to 
read  it  too.  Suffer  no  man  to  persuade  you 
that  it  is  only  a  book  for  Sunday-school  chil- 


THE  SAFETY-LAMP. 


279 


dren,  and  old  women.  It  is  the  book  from 
which  king  David  got  wisdom  and  understand- 
ing. It  is  the  book  which  young  Timothy- 
knew  from  his  cliildhood.  Never  be  ashamed 
of  reading  it.  Do  not  "despise  the  word." 
(Prov.  xiii.  13.) 

Eead  it  with  prayer  for  the  Spirit's  grace,  to 
make  you  understand  it.  Bishop  Beveridge 
says  well,  "  A  man  may  as  soon  read  the  let- 
ter of  Scripture  without  eyes,  as  understand 
the  Spirit  of  it  without  grace." 

Eead  it  revereyitly,  as  the  word  of  God,  not 
of  man, — believing  implicitly  that  what  it  ap- 
proves is  right,  and  what  it  condemns  is  wrong. 
Be  very  sure  that  overy  doctrine  which  will 
not  stand  the  test  of  Scripture,  is  false.  This 
will  keep  you  from  being  tossed  to  and  fro, 
and  carried  about  by  the  dangerous  opinions 
of  these  latter  days.  Be  very  sure  that  every 
practice  in  your  life  which  is  contrary  to  Scrip- 
ture, is  sinful,  and  must  be  given  up.  This 
will  settle  many  a  question  of  conscience,  and 
cut  the  knot  of  many  a  doubt.  Remember 
how  differently  two  kings  of  Judah  read  the 


280 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


word  of  God. — Jehoiakim  read  it,  and  at  once 
cut  the  "writing  to  pieces,  and  burned  it  on  the 
fire.  (Jer.  xxxvi.  23.)  And  why  ? — Because 
his  heart  rebelled  against  it,  and  he  was  re- 
solved not  to  obey.  Josiah  read  it,  and  at 
once  rent  his  clothes,  and  cried  mightily  unto 
the  Lord.  (2  Chron.  xxxiv.  19.)  And  why  ? 
— Because  his  heart  was  tender  and  obedient. 
He  was  ready  to  do  anything  which  Scripture 
showed  him  was  his  duty.  Oh  !  that  you  may 
follow  the  last  of  these  two,  and  not  the  first. 

And  read  it  regularly.  This  is  the  only  way 
to  become  "mighty  in  the  Scriptures."  A 
hasty  glance  at  the  Bible  now  and  then  does 
little  good.  At  that  rate  you  will  never  be- 
come familiar  with  its  treasures,  or  feel  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit  fitted  to  your  hand  in  the 
hour  of  conflict.  But  get  your  mind  stored 
with  Scripture,  by  diligent  reading,  and  you 
will  soon  discover  its  value  and  power.  Texts 
will  rise  up  in  your  hearts  in  the  moment  of 
temptation.  Commands  will  suggest  them- 
selves in  seasons  of  doubt.  Promises  will 
come  across  your  thoughts  in  the  time  of  dis- 


THE  SAFETY-LAMP. 


281 


couragement.  And  thus  you  will  experience 
the  truth  of  David's  words,  "  Thy  word  have 
I  hid  in  my  heart,  that  I*  might  not  sin  against 
thee"  (Psalm  cxix.  11)  ;  and  of  Solomon's 
words,  "  When  thou  goest,  it  shall  lead  thee ; 
when  thou  sleepest  it  shall  keep  thee ;  and 
when  thou  awakest  it  shall  talk  with  thee." 
(Prov.  vi.  22.) 

I  dwell  on  these  things  more  because  this  is 
an  age  of  reading.  Of  making  many  books 
there  seems  no  end,  though  few  of  them  are 
really  profitable.  There  seems  a  rage  for 
cheap  printing  and  publishing.  Newspapers 
of  every  sort  abound,  and  the  tone  of  some, 
which  have  the  widest  circulation,  tells  badly 
for  the  taste  of  the  age.  Amidst  the  flood  of 
dangerous  reading,  I  plead  for  my  Master's 
Book, — I  call  upon  you  not  to  forget  the  book 
of  the  soul.  Let  not  newspapers,  novels,  and 
romances  be  read,  while  the  Prophets  and 
Apostles  lie  despised.  Let  not  the  exciting 
and  licentious  swallow  up  your  attention,  while 
the  edifying  and  sanctifying  can  find  no  place 
in  your  mind. 

24* 


282 


HINTS  TO  TOTTNG  MEN. 


Young  men,  give  the  Bible  the  honor  due 
to  it,  every  day  you  live.  Whatever  you 
read,  read  that  first!  And  beware  of  bad 
books : — there  are  plenty  in  this  day.  Take 
heed  what  you  read.  I  suspect  there  is  more 
harm  done  to  souls  in  this  way  than  most  peo-. 
pie  have  an  idea  is  possible.  Value  all  books 
in  proportion  as  they  are  agreeable  to  Scrip- 
ture. Those  that  are  nearest  to  it  are  the  best, 
and  those  that  are  farthest  from  it,  and  most 
contrary  to  it,  the  worst.* 


XI.-LOSE  NOTHING  FOE  WANT  OF  ASKING. 

Men  seldom  lose  anything  for  want  of 
asking  here  on  earth,  although  they  often  ask 
and  get  nothing.     I  invite  young  men  to 

*  I  observe  a  remarkable  passage  in  the  first  leading  ar- 
ticle of  the  "  Times"  newspaper,  of  August  20th,  1847,  "  We 
question  if  any  person  of  any  class  or  school,  ever  read  the 
Scriptures  regularly  and  thoroughly,  without  being,  or  be- 
coming, not  only  religious,  but  sensible  and  consistent.'' 
This  is  not  a  quotation,  but  an  editorial  opinion.  It  is,  at 
any  rate,  a  striking  admission  from  the  greatest  organ  of 
public  opinion  in  the  civUized  world.  Let  us  be  thankful 
for  it 


THE  NEED  OF  ASKING. 


283 


remember  this  in  the  matter  of  their  souls.  I 
invite  them  to  ask  of  Him  who  giveth  to  all 
liberally.  I  invite  them,  wherever  they  are, 
to  pray. 

Pra3'er  is  the  life-breath  of  a  man's  soul. 
Without  it  we  may  have  a  name  to  live,  and 
be  counted  Christians ;  but  we  are  dead  in  the 
sight  of  God.  The  feeling  that  we  must  cry 
to  God  for  mercy  and  peace  is  a  mark  of  grace, 
and  the  habit  of  spreading  before  Him  our 
soul's  wants  is  an  evidence  that  we  have  the 
spirit  of  adoption.  And  prayer  is  the  ap- 
pointed way  to  obtain  the  relief  of  our  spiritual 
necessities, — it  opens  the  treasury,  and  sets  the 
fountain  flowing, — and  if  we  have  not,  it  is 
because  we  ask  not. 

Prayer  is  the  way  to  procure  the  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit  upon  our  hearts.  Jesus  has 
promised  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Comforter.  He 
is  ready  to  come  down  with  all  his  precious 
gifts,  renewing,  sanctifying,  purifying,  strength- 
ening, cheering,  encouraging,  enlightening, 
teaching,  directing,  guiding  into  all  truth. 
But  then  He  waits  to  be  entreated.  ■ 


284 


HINTS  TO  TOUNO  MEN. 


And  here  it  is,  I  say  it  witli  sorrow,  here  it 
is,  that  men  fall  short  so  miserably.  Few 
indeed  are  to  be  found  who  pray, — many  who 
go  down  on  their  knees,  and  say  a  form  per- 
haps,— but  few  who  pray  ; — few  who  cry  unto 
God, — few  who  call  upon  the  Lord, — few  who 
seek  as  if  they  wanted  to  find, — few  who 
knock  as  if  they  hungered  and  thirsted, — few 
who  wrestle, — few  who  strive  with  God  earn- 
estly for  an  answer, — few  who  give  Him  no 
rest, — few  who  continue  in  prayer, — few  who 
watch  unto  prayer, — few  who  pray  always 
without  ceasing,  and  faint  not.  Yes !  few  pray. 
It  is  just  one  of  the  things  assumed  as  a 
matter  of  course,  but  seldom  practised ;  a  thing 
which  is  everybody's  business,  but  in  fact 
hardly  anybody  performs. 

Young  men,  believe  me,  if  your  soul  is  to 
be  saved  you  must  pray.  God  has  no  dumb 
children.  If  you  are  to  resist  the  world,  the 
flesh,  and  the  devil,  you  must  pray  : — it  is  vain 
to  look  for  strength  in  the  hour  of  trial,  if  it 
has  not  been  sought  for.  You  may  be  thrown 
with  those  who  never  do  it, — you  may  have  to 


THE  NEED  OP  ASKING. 


285 


sleep  in  the  same  room  with  some  one  who 
never  asks  anything  of  God, — still,  mark  my 
words,  you  must  pray. 

I  can  quite  believe  you  find  great  difficulties 
about  it, — difficulties  about  opportunities,  and 
seasons,  and  places.  I  dare  not  lay  down  too 
positive  rules  on  such  points  as  these.  I  leave 
them  to  your  own  conscience.  You  must  be 
guided  b}''  circumstances.  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  prayed  on  a  mountain  ;  Isaac  prayed  in 
the  fields;  Hezekiah  turned  his  face  to  the 
wall  as  he  lay  upon  his  bed ;  Daniel  prayed 
by  a  river  side;  Peter,  the  Apostle,  on  the 
house-top.  I  have  heard  of  young  men  pray- 
ing in  stables  and  hay -lofts.  All  that  I  contend 
for  is  this,  you  must  know  what  it  is  to  "  enter 
into  your  closet."  (Matt.  vi.  6.)  There  must 
be  stated  times  when  you  must  speak  with  God 
face  to  face, — you  must  every  day  have  your 
seasons  for  prayer.    You  must  pray. 

Without  this  all  advice  and  counsel  is  use- 
less. This  is  that  piece  of  spiritual  armor, 
which  Paul  names  last  in  his  catalogue,  in 
Ephesians  vi.,  but  it  is  in  truth  first  in  value 


286 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


and  importance.  This  is  that  meat  which  you 
must  daily  eat,  if  you  would  travel  safely 
through  the  wilderness  of  this  life.  It  is  only 
in  the  strength  of  this  that  you  will  get  onward 
towards  the  mount  of  God.  I  have  heard  it 
said  that  the  needle-grinders  of  Sheffield  some- 
times wear  a  magnetic  mouth-piece  at  their 
work,  which  catches  all  the  fine  dust  that  flies 
around  them,  prevents  it  entering  their  lungs, 
and  so  saves  their  lives.  Prayer  is  the  mouth- 
piece that  you  must  wear  continually,  or  else 
you  will  never  work  on  uninjured  by  the 
unhealthy  atmosphere  of  this  sinful  world. 
You  must  pray. 

Young  men,  be  sure  no  time  is  so  well  spent 
as  that  which  a  man  spends  upon  his  knees. 
Make  time  for  this,  whatever  your  employment 
may  be.  Think  of  David,  king  of  all  Israel : 
what  does  he  say  ? — "  Evening  and  morning 
and  at  noon  will  I  pray  and  cry  aloud,  and  He 
shall  hear  my  voice."  (Psalm  Iv.  17.)  Think 
of  Daniel.  He  had  all  the  business  of  a 
kingdom  on  his  hands  ; — yet  he  prayed  three 
times  a  day.   See  there  the  secret  of  his  safety 


WHO  IS  TOUR  FRIEND? 


287 


in  wicked  Babylon.  Think  of  Solomon.  He 
begins  his  reign  with  prajer  for  help  and 
assistance,  and  hence  his  wonderful  prosperity. 
Think  of  Nehemiah.  He  could  find  time  to 
pray  to  the  God  of  heaven,  even  when  stand- 
ing in  the  presence  of  his  master,  Artaxerxes. 
Think  of  the  example  these  godly  men  have 
left  you,  and  go  and  do  likewise. 

Oh !  that  the  Lord  may  give  you  all  the 
Spirit  of  grace  and  supplications.  "  "Wilt  thou 
not  from  this  time  cry  unto  God,  my  Father, 
thou  art  the  guide  of  my  youth  ?"  (Jer.  ii.  4.) 
Gladly  would  I  consent  that  all  this  address 
should  be  forgotten,  if  only  this  doctrine  of 
the  importance  of  prayer  might  be  impressed 
on  your  hearts. 


Xn.-WHO  IS  YOUE  FRIEND? 

I  WISH  I  knew  what  kind  of  a  friend  each 
reader  of  this  address  has  got.  If  I  did  I 
should  know  more  than  I  do  now  about  his 
soul.    But  I  can  give  him  a  piece  of  advice, 


288 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


and  that  is  to  be  very  particular  in  tlie  choice 
of  his  friends. 

Understand  me, — I  do  not  speak  of  acquaint- 
ances. I  do  not  mean  that  you  ought  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  any  but  true  Christians. 
To  take  such  a  line  is  neither  possible  nor  de- 
sirable in  this  world.  Christianity  requires 
no  man  to  be  uncourteous. 

But  I  do  advise  you  to  be  very  careful  in 
your  choice  of  friends.  Do  not  open  all  your 
heart  to  a  man,  merely  because  he  is  clever, 
agreeable,  good-natured,  high-spirited,  and 
kind.  These  things  are  all  very  well  in  their 
way,  but  they  are  not  everything.  Never  be 
satisfied  with  the  friendship  of  any  one  who 
will  not  be  useful  to  your  soul. 

Believe  me,  the  importance  of  this  advice 
cannot  be  overrated.  There  is  no  telling  the 
harm  that  is  done  by  associating  with  godless 
companions  and  friends.  The  devil  has  few 
better  helps  in  ruining  a  man's  soul.  Grant 
him  this  help,  and  he  cares  little  for  all  the  ar- 
mor with  which  you  may  be  armed  against 
him.    Good  education,  early  habits  of  moral 


WHO  IS  YOUR  FEIEND? 


289 


ity,  sermons,  books,  regular  homes,  letters  of 
parents,  all,  he  knows  well,  will  avail  you  little, 
if  only  you  will  cling  to  ungodly  friends.  You 
may  resist  many  open  temptations,  refuse  many 
plain  snares,  but  once  take  up  a  bad  companion, 
and  he  is  content.  That  awful  chapter  which 
describes  Ammon's  wicked  conduct  about  Ta- 
mar,  almost  begins  with  these  words,  "  But 
Ammon  had  a  friend, — a  very  subtle  man." 
(2  Sam.  xiii.  3.) 

You  must  recollect,  we  are  all  creatures  of 
imitation :  precept  may  teach  us,  but  it  is  ex- 
ample that  draws  us.  There  is  that  in  us  all, 
that  we  are  always  disposed  to  catch  the  ways 
of  those  with  whom  we  live ;  and  the  more 
we  like  them,  the  stronger  does  the  disposition 
grow.  AVithout  our  being  aware  of  it,  they 
influence  our  tastes  and  opinions ; — we  gradu- 
ally give  up  what  they  dislike,  and  take  up 
what  they  like,  in  order  to  become  more  close 
friends  with  them.  And  worst  of  all,  we  catch 
their  ways  in  things  that  are  wrong,  far  quicker 
than  in  things  that  are  right.  Health,  unhap- 
pily, is  not  contagious,  but  disease  is.  It  is 
25 


290 


HINTS  TO  TOrXG  MEN. 


far  more  easy  to  catch  a  chill,  than  to  impart  a 
glow,  and  to  make  each  other's  religion  dwindle 
away,  than  grow  and  prosper. 

Young  men,  I  ask  you  to  lay  these  things 
to  heart.  Before  you  let  any  one  become  your 
constant  companion, — before  you  get  into  the 
habit  of  telling  him  everything, — and  going  to 
him  in  all  your  troubles,  and  all  your  pleas- 
ures; before  you  do  this,  just  think  of  what  I 
have  been  saying ;  ask  yourself,  "  Will  this  be 
a  useful  friendship  to  me  or  not  ?" 

"Evil  communications"  do  indeed  "corrupt 
good  manners."  (1  Cor.  xv.  33.)  I  wish  that 
text  were  written  in  hearts,  as  often  as  it  is  in 
copy  books.  Good  friends  are  among  our 
greatest  blessings; — they  may  keep  us  back 
from  much  evil,  quicken  us  in  our  course, 
speak  a  word  in  season,  draw  us  upward,  and 
draw  us  on.  But  a  bad  friend  is  a  positive 
misfortune,  a  weight  continually  dragging  us 
down,  and  chaining  us  to  earth.  Keep  com- 
pany with  an  irreligious  man,  and  it  is  more 
than  probable  you  will  in  the  end  become  hke 
him.    That  is  the  general  consequence  of  all 


■WHO  IS  TOUR  FEIEiro? 


291 


sucli  friendships.  Tiie  good  go  down  to  the 
bad,  and  the  bad  do  not  come  up  to  the  good. 
Even  a  stone  will  give  way  before  a  continual 
dropping.  The  world's  proverb  is  only  too 
correct,  "Clothes  and  company  tell  true  tales 
about  character."  "  Show  me  who  a  man  lives 
with,"  say  the  Spaniards,  "and  I  will  show  you 
what  he  is." 

I  dwell  the  more  upon  this  point,  because  it 
has  more  to  do  with  your  prospects  in  life, 
than  at  first  sight  appears.  If  ever  3'ou  marry, 
it  is  more  than  probable  you  will  choose  a 
wife  among  the  connections  of  your  friends. 
If  Jehoshaphat's  son  Jehoram  had  not  formed 
a  friendship  with  Ahab's  family,  he  would 
most  likely  not  have  married  Ahab's  daughter. 
And  who  can  estimate  the  importance  of  a 
right  choice  in  marriage?  It  is  a  step  which, 
according  to  the  old  saying,  "  either  makes 
a  man  or  mars  him."  Your  happiness  in  both 
lives  may  depend  on  it.  Your  wife  must  either 
help  your  soul,  or  harm  it :  there  is  no  medi- 
um. She  will  either  fan  the  flame  of  religion 
in  your  heart,  or  throw  cold  water  upon  it,  and 


292 


UINTS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


make  it  burn  low.  She  will  either  be  wiuga 
or  fetters,  a  rein  or  a  spur  to  your  Christianity, 
according  to  her  character.  He  that  findeth  a 
good  wife,  doth  indeed  "find  a  good  thing;" 
but  if  you  have  the  least  wish  to  find  one,  be 
very  careful  how  you  choose  your  friends. 

Do  you  ask  me  what  kind  of  friends  you 
shall  choose  ?  Choose  friends  who  will  benefit 
your  soul, — friends  whom  you  can  really  re- 
spect,— friends  whom  you  would  like  to  have 
near  you  on  your  death-bed, — friends  who 
love  the  Bible,  and  are  not  afraid  to  speak  to 
you  about  it, — friends  such  as  you  will  not  be 
ashamed  of  owning  at  the  coming  of  Christ, 
and  the  day  of  judgment.  Follow  the  exam- 
ple that  David  sets  you;  he  says,  "I  am  a 
companion  of  all  them  that  fear  thee,  and  of 
them  that  keep  thy  precepts."  (Psalm  cxix. 
63.)  Remember  the  words  of  Solomon  :  "  He 
that  walketh  with  wise  men  shall  be  wise,  but 
a  companion  of  fools  shall  be  destroyed." 
(Prov.  xiii.  20.)  But  depend  on  it,  bad  com- 
pany in  the  life  that  now  is,  is  the  sure  way  to 
procure  worse  company  in  the  life  to  come. 


V. 


1 


V. 


"  It  is  good  to  be  zealously  affected  always  in  a  good 
thing." — Gaiatians,  iv.  18. 

Eeader, 

There  is  a  subject  before  your  eyes  of  vast 
importance.  I  mean  the  subject  of  religious 
zeal. 

It  is  a  subject  lite  many  others  in  religion, 
most  sadly  misunderstood.  Many  would  be 
ashamed  to  be  thought  "  zealous."  Many  are 
ready  to  say  of  zealous  people  what  Festus 
said  of  Paul,  "  They  are  beside  themselves — 
they  are  mad."   Acts,  xxvi.  24. 

But  it  is  a  subject  which  no  reader  of  the 
Bible  has  any  right  to  pass  over.  If  we  make 
the  Bible  our  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  we 
can  not  turn  away  from  it.    We  must  look  it 


296 


"be  zealous." 


in  the  face.  What  says  the  Apostle  Paul  to 
Titus?  "Christ  gave  himself  for  us  that  he 
might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify 
unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good 
works."  Titus,  ii.  14.  What  says  the  Lord 
Jesus  to  the  Laodicean  church ?  "Be  zealous 
and  repent."  Eev.  iii.  19. 

Eeader,  I  say  plainly,  I  want  to  plead  the 
cause  of  zeal  in  religion.  I  am  not  afraid  of 
it.  I  love  it.  I  admire  it.  I  believe  it  to  be 
a  mighty  blessing.  I  want  to  strike  a  blow 
at  the  lazy,  easy,  sleepy  Christianity  of  these 
latter  days,  which  can  see  no  beauty  in  zeal, 
and  only  uses  the  word  "  zealot"  as  a  word  of 
reproach.  I  want  to  remind  Christians  that 
"Zealot"  was  a  name  given  by  our  Lord  to 
His  Apostle  Simon  as  a  mark  of  honor,  and 
to  persuade  them  to  be  zealous  men. 

Come  now  and  give  me  your  attention,  while 
I  tell  you  something  about  zeal.  Listen  to  me 
for  your  own  sake — for  the  sake  of  the  world 
— for  the  sake  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  Lis- 
ten to  me,  and  by  God's  help  I  will  show  you 
that  to  be  zealous  is  to  be  wise. 


"be  zealous." 


297 


I.  Let  me  show  you,  in  the  first  place,  what 
is  zeal  in  religion. 

II.  Let  me  show  you,  in  the  second  place, 
when  a  man  can  he  called  rightly  zealous  in  re- 
ligion. 

III.  Let  me  show  you,  in  the  third  place, 
why  it  is  a  good  thing  for  a  man  to  be  zealom  in 
religion. 

I.  First  of  all,  I  propose  to  bring  before  you 
this  question,  "What  is  zeal  in  religion?" 

Zeal  in  religion  is  a  burning  desire  to  please 
God,  to  do  His  will,  and  to  advance  His  glory 
in  the  world  in  every  possible  way.  It  is  a 
desire  which  no  man  feels  by  nature — which 
the  Spirit  puts  in  the  heart  of  every  believer 
when  he  is  converted — but  which  some  believ- 
ers feel  so  much  more  strongly  than  others, 
that  they  alone  deserve  to  be  called  zealous  men. 

This  desire  is  so  strong,  when  it  really 
reigns  in  a  man,  that  it  impels  him  to  make 
any  sacrifice — ^to  go  through  any  trouble — 'to 
deuj'  himself  to  any  amount — ^to  suffer,  to 
work,  to  labor,  to  toil — to  spend  himself  and 


298 


"be  zealous." 


be  spent,  and  even  to  die — if  only  he  can 
please  God  and  honor  Christ. 

A  zealous  man  in  religion  is  pre-eminently 
a  man  of  one  thing.  It  is  not  enough  to  say 
that  he  is  earnest — ^hearty — uncompromising 
— ^thorough-going — whole-hearted — ^fervent  in 
spirit.  He  only  sees  one  thing — he  cares  for 
one  thing — he  hves  for  one  thing — he  is  swal- 
lowed up  in  one  thing,  and  that  one  thing  is  to 
please  God.  Whether  he  lives,  of  whether  he 
dies — whether  he  has  health,  or  whether  he 
has  sickness — whether  he  is  rich,  or  whether 
he  is  poor — whether  he  pleases  man  or  whether 
he  gives  offense — whether  he  is  thought  wise, 
or  whether  he  is  thought  foolish — whether  he 
gets  blame,  or  whether  he  gets  praise — whether 
he  gets  honor,  or  whether  he  gets  shame — for 
5,11  this  the  zealous  man  cares  nothing  at  all. 
He  burns  for  one  thing ;  and  that  one  thing  is 
to  please  God,  and  to  advance  God's  glory.  If 
he  is  consumed  in  the  very  burning,  he  cares 
not  for  it — he  is  content.  He  feels  like  a  lamp, 
he  is  made  to  burn,  and  if  consumed  in  burn- 
ing, he  has  but  done  the  work  for  which  God  ap 


I 


"be  zealous." 


299 


pointed  him.  Sucli  an  one  will  always  find  a 
sphere  for  his  zeal.  K  he  can  not  preach,  and 
work,  and  give  money,  he  will  cry,  and  sigh, 
and  pray.  Yes !  if  he  is  only  a  pauper,  on  a 
perpetual  bed  of  sickness,  he  will  make  the 
wheels  of  sin  around  him  drive  heavily,  by 
continually  interceding  against  it.  If  he  can 
not  fight  in  the  valley  with  Joshua,  he  will  do 
the  work  of  Moses,  Aaron  and  Hur,  on  the 
hill.  If  he  is  cut  off  from  working  himself, 
he  will  give  the  Lord  no  rest  tiU  help  is  raised 
up  from  another  quarter,  and  the  work  is  done. 
This  is  what  I  mean,  when  I  speak  of  zeal  in 
religion. 

You  know  the  habit  of  mind  that  makes 
men  great  in  this  world — that  makes  such  men 
as  Alexander  the  Great,  or  Julius  Cassar,  or 
Oliver  Cromwell,  or  Peter  the  Great,  or  Charles 
XIT.,  or  Marlborough,  or  Napoleon,  or  Pitt. 
You  know  that  they  were  all  men  of  one  thing. 
They  threw  themselves  into  one  grand  pursuit. 
Tliey  cared  for  nothing  else.  They  put  every 
thing  else  aside.  They  counted  every  thing  else 
as  second  rate,  and  of  subordinate  importance, 


800 


"be  zealous." 


compared  to  the  one  thing  that  they  put  before 
their  eyes  every  day  they  lived.  I  say  that  the 
same  habit  of  mind  applied  to  the  service  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  becomes  religious  zeal. 

You  know  the  habit  of  mind  which  makes 
iQen  great  in  the  sciences  of  this  world — that 
makes  such  men  as  Archimedes,  or  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  or  Galileo,  or  Ferguson  the  astrono- 
mer, or  James  "Watt.  All  these  were  men  of 
one  thing.  They  brought  the  powers  of  their 
minds  into  one  single  focus.  They  cared  for 
nothing  else  beside.  And  this  was  the  secret 
of  their  success.  I  say  that  this  same  habit 
consecrated  to  the  service  of  God,  becomes  re- 
ligious zeal. 

You  know  the  habit  of  mind  that  makes 
men  rich — that  makes  men  amass  mighty  for- 
tunes, and  leave  mUHons  behind  them.  What 
kind  of  people  were  the  bankers,  and  mer- 
chants, and  tradesmen,  who  have  left  a  name 
behind  them,  as  men  who  acquired  immense 
wealth,  and  became  rich  from  being  poor? 
They  were  all  men  that  threw  themselves  en- 
tirely into  their  business,  and  neglected  every 


"be  zealous." 


301 


thing  else  for  the  sake  of  that  business. 
They  gave  their  first  attention,  their  first 
thoughts,  the  best  of  their  time,  and  the  best 
part  of  their  mind,  to  pushing  forward  the 
transactions  in  which  they  were  engaged. 
They  were  men  of  one  thing.  Their  hearts 
were  not  divided.  They  devoted  themselves, 
body,  soul,  and  mind  to  their  business.  They 
seemed  to  live  for  nothing  else.  I  say  that,  if 
you  turn  that  habit  of  mind  to  the  service  of 
God  and  his  Christ,  it  makes  religious  zeal. 

Now,  reader,  this  habit  of  mind — this  zeal 
was  the  characteristic  of  all  the  Apostles.  See  for 
example  the  Apostle  Paul.  Hear  him  when 
he  speaks  to  the  Ephesian  elders  for  the  last 
time,  "  None  of  these  things  move  me,  neither 
count  I  my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I 
might  finish  my  course  with  joy,  and  the  min- 
istry that  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to 
testify  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God."  Acts 
XX.  24.  Hear  him  again,  when  he  writes  to 
the  Philippians,  "  This  one  thing  I  do ;  I  press 
toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  call- 
ing of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."  Phil.  iii.  13. 
26 


302 


"be  zealous." 


See  him  from  the  day  of  his  conversion,  giving 
up  his  brilhant  prospects — forsaking  all  for 
Christ's  sake — and  going  forth  to  preach  that 
very  Jesus  whom  he  had  once  despised.  See 
him  going  to  and  fro  throughout  the  world 
from  that  time — through  persecution — through 
oppression — through  opposition — through  pris- 
ons—  through  bonds — through  afflictions — 
through  things  next  to  death  itself,  up  to  the 
very  day  when  he  sealed  his  faith  with  his 
blood,  and  died  at  Rome,  a  martyr  for  that 
Gospel  which  he  had  so  long  proclaimed. 
This  was  true  religious  zeal. 

This  again  was  the  characteristic  of  the  early 
Christians.  They  were  men  "  every  where 
spoken  against."  They  were  driven  to  wor- 
ship God  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth.  They 
often  lost  every  thing  in  the  world  for  their 
religion's  sake.  They  generally  gained  noth- 
ing but  the  cross,  persecution,  shame,  and  re- 
proach. But  they  seldom,  very  seldom,  went 
back.  If  they  could  not  dispute,  at  least  they 
could  suffer.  If  they  could  not  convince  their 
adversaries  by  argument,  at  any  rate  they 


"be  zealous." 


303 


could  die,  and  prove  that  they  themselvea 
were  in  earnest.  Look  at  Ignatius  cheerfully 
traveling  to  the  place  where  he  was  to  be  de- 
voured by  lions,  and  saying  as  he  went,  "ISTow 
do  I  begin  to  be  a  disciple  of  my  Master, 
Christ."  Hear  old  Polycarp  before  the  Koman 
Governor,  saying  boldly  when  called  upon  to 
deny  Christ,  "  Four  score  and  six  years  have 
I  served  Christ,  neither  hath  he  ever  offended 
me  in  any  thing,  and  how  then  can  I  revile 
my  King  ?"    This  was  true  zeal. 

This,  again,  was  the  characteristic  of  Martin 
Imther.  He  boldly  defied  the  most  powerful 
hierarchy  that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  He 
unvailed  its  corruptions  with  an  unflinching 
hand.  He  preached  the  long-neglected  truth 
of  justification  by  faith,  in  spite  of  anathemas 
and  excommimications  fast  and  thickly  poured 
upon  him.  See  him  going  to  the  Diet  at 
Worms,  and  pleading  his  cause  before  the 
Emperor,  and  the  Legate,  and  a  host  of  the 
children  of  this  world.  Hear  him  saying — 
when  men  were  dissuading  him  from  going, 
and  reminding  him  of  the  fate  of  John  Huss, 


304 


"be  zealous." 


*'  ThoTigli  there  were  a  devil  under  every  tile 
on  the  roofs  of  "Worms,  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  I  shall  go  forward."    This  was  true  zeal. 

This  again,  was  the  characteristic  of  our  own 
English  Reformers.  You  have  it  in  our  first 
reformer,  Wickliffe,  when  he  rose  up  on  his 
sick  bed,  and  said  to  the  Friars  who  wanted 
him  to  retract  all  he  had  said  against  the  Pope, 
"  I  shall  not  die,  but  live  to  declare  the  villa- 
nies  of  the  Friars."  You  have  it  in  Cranmer, 
dying  at  the  stake,  rather  than  deny  Christ's 
Gospel,  holding  forth  that  hand  to  be  first 
burned,  which,  in  a  moment  of  weakness,  had 
signed  a  recantation,  and  saying,  as  he  held  it 
in  the  flames,  "  This  unworthy  hand!"  You 
have  it  in  old  father  Latimer,  standing  boldly 
on  his  faggot,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years,  and 
saying  to  Eidley,  "Courage,  brother  Eidley! 
we  shall  light  such  a  candle  this  day,  as,  by 
God's  grace,  shall  never  be  put  out."  This 
was  zeal. 

This,  again,  has  been  the  characteristic  of  all 
the  greatest  Missionaries.  You  see  it  in  Mrs. 
Judson,  in  Carey,  in  Morrison,  in  Schwartz,  in 


"be  zealous." 


305 


Williams,  iu  Brainerd,  in  Elliott.  You  see  it 
in  none  more  brightly  than  in  Henry  Martyn. 
This  was  a  man  who  had  reached  the  highest 
academical  honors  that  Cambridge  could  be- 
stow. Whatever  profession  he  chose  to  follow, 
he  had  the  most  dazzling  prospects  of  success. 
He  turned  his  back  upon  it  all.  He  chose  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  poor  benighted  heathen. 
He  went  forth  to  an  early  grave,  in  a  foreign 
land.  He  said,  when  he  got  there,  and  saw 
the  condition  of  the  people,  "  I  could  bear  to 
"he  torn  in  pieces,  if  I  could  but  hear  the  sobs 
of  penitence — if  I  could  but  see  the  eyes  of 
faith  directed  to  the  Eedeemer!"  This  was 
zeal. 

But,  reader,  to  look  away  from  all  earthly 
example — this,  remember,  is  pre-eminently  the 
characteristic  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus 
Christ  Himself  Of  Him  it  was  written  hun- 
dreds of  years  before  he  came  upon  earth,  that 
He  was  "  clad  with  zeal  as  with  a  cloak,"  and 
"  the  zeal  of  thine  house  hath  even  eaten 
me."  And  His  own  words  were  "  My  meat 
is  to  do  my  Father's  will,  and  to  finish  his 
26* 


306 


"be  zealous." 


•work."  Psalm  Ixvi.  9.  Isaiali  lis.  17.  Jolm 
iv.  34. 

Where  shall  we  begin  if  we  try  to  give  ex- 
amples of  his  zeal  ?  Where  should  we  end  if 
we  once  began  ?  Trace  all  the  narratives  of 
His  life  in  the  four  Gospels.  Read  all  the 
history  of  what  He  was  from  the  beginning  of 
His  ministry  to  the  end.  Surely  if  there  ever 
was  one  who  was  all  zeal,  it  was  our  great  Ex- 
ample—our Head — our  High-Priest — the  great 
Shepherd  of  our  profession,  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

Reader,  if  these  things  are  so,  you  should 
not  only  beware  of  running  down  zeal,  but 
you  should  also  beware  of  allowing  zeal  to  be 
run  down  in  your  presence.  It  may  be  badly 
directed,  and  then  it  becomes  a  curse ; — but  it 
may  be  turned  to  the  highest  and  best  ends, 
and  then  it  is  a  mighty  blessing.  Like  fire,  it 
is  one  of  the  best  of  servants  ; — ^but,  like  fire, 
also,  if  not  well  directed,  it  may  be  the  worst 
of  masters.  Listen  not  to  those  people  who 
talk  of  zeal  as  weakness  and  enthusiasm.  Lis- 
ten not  to  those  who  see  no  beauty  in  missions 


"be  zealous." 


307 


— ^who  laugt  at  all  attempts  at  the  conversion 
of  souls — ^who  call  Societies  for  sending  the 
Gospel  to  the  world  useless — and  who  look 
upon  City  Missions,  and  District  Visiting,  and 
Ragged  Schools,  and  Open  Air  Preaching,  as 
nothing  but  foolishness  and  fanaticism.  Be- 
ware, lest  in  joining  a  cry  of  that  kind,  you 
condemn  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Himself  Be- 
ware lest  you  speak  against  Him  who  has  "  left 
us  an  ensample  that  we  should  follow  His  steps." 

Alas!  I  fear  there  are  many  professing 
Christians,  who,  if  they  had  lived  in  the  days 
when  our  Lord  and  His  apostles  walked  upon 
earth,  would  have  called  Him  and  all  His 
followers,  enthusiasts  and  fanatics.  There  are 
many,  I  fear,  who  have  more  in  common  with 
Annas  and  Caiaphas — with  Pilate  and  Herod 
— with  Festus  and  Agrippa — with  Felix  and 
Gallio — than  with  St.  Paul,  and  the  Lord  Jesua 
Christ 

n.  I  pass  on  now  to  the  second  thing  I  pro- 
posed to  speak  of.  When  is  a  man  truly  zeal' 
cm  in  religion  f  . 


308 


"be  zealous." 


There  never  was  a  grace  of  whicli  Satan  has 
not  made  a  counterfeit.  There  never  was  a 
good  coin  issued  from  the  mint,  but  forgers  at 
once  have  coined  something  very  like  it.  It 
was  one  of  Nero's  cruel  practices,  first  to  sew 
up  Christians  in  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  and 
then  bait  them  with  dogs.  It  is  one  of  Satan's 
devices  to  place  distorted  copies  of  the  believ- 
er's graces  before  the  eyes  of  men,  and  so  to 
bring  the  true  graces  into  contempt.  No  grace 
has  suffered  so  much  in  this  way  as  zeal.  Of 
none  perhaps  are  there  so  many  shams  and 
counterfeits  abroad.  We  must,  therefore,  clear 
the  ground  of  all  rubbish  on  this  question. 
We  must  find  out  when  zeal  in  religion  is 
really  good,  and  true,  and  of  God. 

1.  Reader,  if  zeal  be  true,  it  will  be  a  zeal 
according  to  knowledge.  It  must  not  be  a  blind, 
ignorant  zeal.  It  must  be  a  calm,  reasonable, 
intelligent  principle,  which  can  show  the  war- 
rant of  Scripture  for  every  step  it  takes.  The 
■unconverted  Jews  had  zeal.  Paul  says,  "I 
bear  them  record  that  they  have  a  zeal  of  God, 
hut  not  according  to  knowledge^''    Eom.  x.  21. 


"be  zealous." 


309 


Saul  had  zeal  when  he  was  a  persecuting  Phari- 
see. He  says  himself,  in  one  of  his  addresses 
to  the  Jews,  "  I  was  zealous  toward  God  as  ye 
all  are  this  day."  Acts,  xxii.  31.  Manasseh 
had  zeal  in  the  days  when  he  was  an  idolater. 
The  man  who  made  his  own  children  pass 
through  the  fire — who  gave  up  the  fruit  of  his 
body  to  Moloch,  to  atone  for  the  sin  of  his 
soul — that  man  had  zeal.  James  and  John 
had  zeal  when  they  would  have  called  down 
fire  on  a  Samaritan  village.  But  our  Lord  re- 
buked them.  Peter  had  zeal  when  he  drew 
his  sword  and  cut  off  the  ear  of  Malchus. 
But  he  was  quite  wrong.  Bonner  and  Gardi- 
ner had  zeal  when  they  burned  Latimer  and 
Cranmer.  Were  they  not  in  earnest?  Let  us 
do  them  justice.  They  were  zealous,  though 
it  was  for  an  unscriptural  religion.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  Inquisition  in  Spain  had  zeal,  when 
they  tortured  men,  and  put  them  to  horrible 
deaths,  because  they  would  not  forsake  the 
Gospel.  Yes !  they  marched  men  and  women 
to  the  stake  in  solemn  procession,  and  called 
it  "An  Act  of  Faith,"  and  believed  they  were 


310 


"be  zealous." 


doing  God  service.  The  Hindoos,  who  used 
to  lie  down  before  the  car  of  Juggernaut,  and 
allow  their  bodies  to  be  crushed  under  its 
wheels: — had  not  they  zeal?  The  Indian 
widows,  who  used  to  burn  themselves  on  the 
fiineral  pile  of  their  deceased  husbands — the 
Eoman  Catholics,  who  persecuted  to  death  the 
Vaudois  and  Albigenses,  and  cast  down  men 
and  women  from  rocks  and  precipices,  because 
they  were  Heretics  ; — had  not  they  zeal  ?  The 
Saracens — the  Crusaders — the  Jesuits — the 
anabaptists  of  Munster — the  followers  of  Jo- 
anna Southcote — had  they  not  all  zeal  ?  Yes ! 
Yes !  I  do  not  deny  it.  They  were  all  in 
earnest.  But  their  zeal  was  not  such  zeal  as 
God  approves — it  was  not  a  "  zeal  according 
to  knowledge." 

2.  Furthermore  if  zeal  be  true,  it  will  be  a 
zeal  from  true  motives.  Such  is  the  subtlety 
of  the  heart,  that  men  will  often  do  right 
things  from  wrong  motives.  Amaziah  and 
Joash,  kings  of  Judah,  are  striking  proofs  of 
this.  Just  so  a  man  may  have  zeal  about 
tilings  that  are  good  and  right,  but  from  second- 


"be  zealous." 


311 


rate  motives,  and  not  from  a  desire  to  please 
God.  And  such  zeal  is  worth  nothing.  It  is 
reprobate  silver.  It  is  utterly  wanting  when 
placed  in  the  balance  of  God.  Man  looks  onlj 
at  the  action.  God  looks  at  the  motive.  Man 
only  thinks  of  the  quantity  of  work  done. 
God  considers  the  doer's  heart. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  zeal  from  party 
spirit.  It  is  quite  possible  for  a  man  to  be  un- 
wearied in  promoting  the  interests  of  his  own 
Church  or  denomination,  and  yet  to  have  no 
grace  in  his  own  heart — to  be  ready  to  die  for 
the  peculiar  opinions  of  his  own  section  of 
Christians,  and  yet  to  have  no  real  love  to 
Christ.  Such  was  the  zeal  of  the  Pharisees. 
They  "  compassed  sea  and  land  to  make  one 
proselyte,  and  when  he  was  made,  they  made 
him  twofold  more  the  child  of  heU  than  them- 
selves." Matt,  xxiii.  15.  This  zeal  is  not 
true. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  zeal  from  mere  self- 
ishness. There  are  times  when  it  is  men's  in- 
terest to  be  zealous  in  religion.  Power  and 
patronage  are  sometimes  given  to  godly  men. 


812 


"be  zealous." 


The  good  things  of  the  world  are  sometimes 
to  be  attained  by  wearing  a  cloak  of  relig- 
ion. And  whenever  this  is  the  case,  there 
is  no  lack  of  false  zeal.  Such  was  the  zeal  of 
Joab,  when  he  served  David.  Such  was  the 
zeal  of  only  too  many  Englishmen  in  the  days 
of  the  Commonwealth,  when  the  Puritans  were 
in  power. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  zeal  from  the  love  of 
praise.  Sucb  was  the  zeal  of  Jehu,  when  he 
was  putting  down  the  worship  of  Baal.  Re- 
member how  he  met  Jonadab  the  son  of  Re- 
chab,  and  said,  "  Come  with  me,  and  see  my 
zeal  for  the  Lord."  Such  is  the  zeal  that  Bun- 
yan  refers  to  in  Pilgrim's  Progress,  when  he 
speaks  of  some  who  went  "  for  praise"  to  Mount 
Zion.  Some  people  feed  on  the  praise  of  their 
fellow  creatures.  They  would  rather  have  it 
from  Christians  than  have  none  at  all. 

Ah  1  reader,  it  is  a  sad  and  humbling  proof 
■of  man's  corruption,  that  there  is  no  degree 
of  self-denial  and  self-sacrifice  to  which  men 
may  not  go  from  false  motives.  It  does  not 
follow  that  a  man's  rehgion  is  true,  because  he 


"be  zealous," 


318 


"  gives  his  body  to  be  burned,"  or  because  be 
"gives  bis  goods  to  feed  the  poor."  The 
Apostle  Paul  tells  us  that  a  man  may  do  this, 
and  yet  not  have  true  charity.  It  does  not 
follow  because  men  go  into  a  wilderness,  and 
become  hermits,  that  therefore  they  know  what 
true  self  denial  is.  It  does  not  follow  because 
people  immure  themselves  in  monasteries  and 
nunneries,  or  become  sisters  of  charity,  and 
sisters  of  mercy,  that  therefore  they  know  what 
true  crucifixion  of  the  flesh  and  self-sacrifice 
is  in  the  sight  of  God.  All  these  things  peo- 
ple may  do  on  wrong  principles.  They  may 
do  them  from  wrong  motives — to  satisfy  a  se- 
cret pride  and  love  of  notoriety — but  not  from 
the  true  motive  of  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God. 
All  such  zeal,  let  us  understand,  is  false.  It  is 
of  earth,  and  not  of  heaven. 

3.  Furthermore,  if  zeal  be  true,  it  will  be  a 
zeal  about  things  according  to  God's  mind,  and 
sanctioned  by  plain  examples  in  God's  Word. 
Take,  for  one  instance,  that  highest  and  best 
kind  of  zeal — I  mean  zeal  for  our  own  growth, 
in  personal  holiness.  Such  zeal  will  make  a 
27 


314 


"be  zealous." 


man  feel  incessantly  that  sin  is  the  mightiest 
of  aU  evils,  and  conformity  t)o  Christ  the  great- 
est of  all  blessings.  It  will  make  him  feel 
that  there  is  nothing  which  ought  not  to  be 
done,  in  order  to  keep  up  a  close  walk  with 
God.  It  will  make  him  willing  to  cut  off  the 
right  hand,  or  pluck  out  the  right  eye,  or  make 
any  sacrifice,  if  only  he  can  attain  a  closer 
communion  with  Jesus.  Is  not  this  just  what 
you  see  in  the  Apostle  Paul  ?  He  says,  "  I 
keep  under  my  body  and  bring  it  into  subjec- 
tion, lest  that  by  any  means,  when  I  have 
preached  to  others,  I  myself  should  be  a  cast- 
away." "  I  count  not  myself  to  have  appre- 
hended :  but  this  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting 
those  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching 
forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before,  I 
press  toward  the  mark."  1  Cor.  ix.  27 ;  Phil, 
iii.  13,  14. 

Take,  for  another  instance,  zeal  for  the  sal- 
vation of  souls.  Such  zeal  wiU  make  a  man 
bum  with  desire  to  enhghten  the  darkness 
which  covers  the  souls  of  multitudes,  and  to 
bring  every  man,  woman,  and  child  he  sees, 


"be  zealous." 


815 


to  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel.  Is  not  this 
what  you  see  in  the  Lord  Jesus  ?  It  is  said 
that  He  neither  gave  Himself,  nor  His  disci- 
ples, leisure  so  much  as  to  eat.  Mark,  vi.  31. 
Is  not  this  what  you  see  in  the  Apostle  Paul  ? 
He  says,  "I  am  made  all  things  to  all  men,« 
that  I  might  by  all  means  save  some."  1  Cor. 
ix.  22. 

Take,  for  another  instance,  zeal  against  evil 
practices.  Such  zeal  will  make  a  man  hate 
every  thing  which  God  hates,  and  long  to 
sweep  it  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  will 
make  him  jealous  of  God's  honor  and  glory, 
and  look  on  every  thing  which  robs  him  of  it 
as  an  offense.  Is  not  this  what  you  see  in 
Phinehas,  the  son  of  Eleazar? — orinHezekiah 
and  Josiah,  when  they  put  down  idolatry  ? 

Take,  for  another  instance,  zeal  for  main- 
taining the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  Such 
zeal  will  make  a  man  hate  unscriptural  teach- 
ing, just  as  he  hates  sin.  It  will  make  him  re- 
gard religious  error  as  a  pestilence  which  must 
be  checked,  whatever  may  be  the  cost.  It 
will  make  him  scrupidously  carefully  about 


316 


"be  zealous." 


every  jot  and  tittle  of  the  counsel  of  God,  lest 
by  some  omission  the  whole  Gospel  should 
be  spoiled.  Is  not  this  what  you  see  in  Paul 
at  Antioch,  when  he  withstood  Peter  to  the 
face,  and  says  he  was  to  be  blamed  ?  Gal.  ii. 
11.  These  are  the  kind  of  things  about  which 
true  zeal  is  employed.  Such  zeal,  let  us  un- 
derstand, is  honorable  before  God. 

4.  Furthermore,  if  zeal  be  true,  it  will  be 
a  zeal  tempered  with  charity  and  love.  It  will 
not  be  a  bitter  zeal.  It  will  not  be  a  fierce 
enmity  against  persons.  It  will  not  be  a  zeal 
ready  to  take  the  sword,  and  to  smite  with  car- 
nal weapons.  The  weapons  of  true  zeal  are 
not  carnal,  but  spiritual.  True  zeal  will  hate 
sin,  and  yet  love  the  sinner.  True  zeal  will 
hate  heresy,  and  yet  love  the  heretic.  True 
zeal  wiU  long  to  break  the  idol,  but  deeply 
pity  the  idolater.  True  zeal  will  abhor  every 
kind  of  wickedness,  but  labor  to  do  good  even 
to  the  vilest  of  transgressors.  True  zeal  wiU 
warn  as  St.  Paul  warned  the  Galatians,  and 
yet  feel  tenderly  as  a  nurse,  or  a  mother  over 
erring  children.    It  will  expose  false  teachers, 


"be  zealous." 


317 


as  Jesus  did  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  and  yet 
weep  tenderly  as  Jesus  did  over  Jerusalem, 
when  He  came  near  to  it  for  the  last  time . 
True  zeal  will  be  decided  as  a  surgeon  dealing 
with  a  diseased  limb ;  but  true  zeal  will  be 
gentle  as  one  that  is  dressing  the  wounds  of  a 
brother.  True  zeal  will  speak  truth  boldly, 
like  Athanasius,  against  the  world,  and  not 
care  who  is  offended ;  but  true  zeal  will  en- 
deavor in  all  its  speaking,  to  speak  the  truth 
in  love. 

5.  Furthermore,  if  zeal  be  true,  it  will  he 
joined  to  a  deep  humility.  A  truly  zealous 
man  will  be  the  last  to  discover  the  greatness 
of  his  own  attainments.  All  that  he  is  and 
does  will  come  so  immensely  short  of  his  own 
desires,  that  he  will  be  filled  with  a  sense  of 
his  own  unprofitableness,  and  amazed  to 
think  that  God  should  work  by  him  at  all. 
Like  Moses,  when  he  came  down  from  the 
mount,  he  will  not  know  that  his  face  shines. 
Like  the  righteous  in  the  twenty -fifth  chapter 
of  St.  Matthew,  he  will  not  be  aware  of  his 
own  good  works.  Dr.  Buchanan  is  one  whose 
27* 


318 


"be  zealous." 


praise  is  in  all  the  clixirclies.  He  was  one  of 
tlie  first  to  take  up  the  cause  of  the  perishing 
heathen.  He  literally  spent  himself,  body  and 
mind,  in  laboring  to  arouse  sleeping  Christians 
to  see  the  importance  of  missions.  Yet  he 
says  in  one  of  his  letters,  "  I  do  not  know  that 
I  ever  had  what  Christians  call  zeal."  White- 
field  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  preachers  of 
the  Gospel  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Fervent 
in  spirit,  instant  in  season  out  of  season,  he  was 
a  burning  and  a  shining  light,  and  turned 
thousands  to  God.  Yet  he  says  after  preach- 
ing for  thirty  years,  "  Lord  help  me  to  begin 
to  begin."  M'Cheyne  was  one  of  the  greatest 
blessings  that  God  ever  gave  to  the  Church  of 
Scotland.  He  was  a  minister  insatiably  de- 
sirous of  the  salvation  of  souls.  Few  men 
ever  did  so  much  good  as  he  did,  though  he 
died  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine.  Yet  he  says 
in  one  of  his  letters,  "  None  but  God  knows 
■what  an  abyss  of  corruption  is  in  my  heart. 
It  is  perfectly  wonderful  that  ever  God  could 
bless  such  a  ministry."  Ah !  reader,  where 
there  is  self-conceit,  there  is  little  true  zeal. 


"be  zealous." 


319 


Reader,  I  ask  you  particularly  to  remember 
the  description  of  true  zeal,  whicli  I  have  just 
given.  Zeal  according  to  knowledge — zeal 
from  true  motives — zeal  warranted  by  Scrip- 
tural examples — zeal  tempered  with  charity — ■ 
zeal  accompanied  by  deep  humility — this  is 
true  genuine  zeal — this  is  the  kind  of  zeal 
which  God  approves.  Of  such  zeal,  you  and 
I  never  need  fear  having  too  much. 

I  ask  you  to  remember  the  description,  be- 
cause of  the  tifnes  in  which  you  live.  Beware 
of  supposing  that  sincerity  alone  can  ever 
make  up  true  zeal — that  earnestness,  however 
ignorant,  makes  a  man  a  really  zealous  Chris- 
tian in  the  sight  of  God.  There  is  a  genera- 
tion in  these  days  which  makes  an  idol  of  what 
it  is  pleased  to  call  "  earnestness'''  in  religion. 
These  men  will  allow  no  fault  to  be  found  with 
an  '^^  earnest  man^  Whatever  his  theological 
opinions  may  be — if  he  be  but  an  earnest  man, 
that  is  enough  for  these  people,  and  we  are  to 
ask  no  more.  They  tell  you  we  have  nothing 
to  do  with  minute  points  of  doctrine,  and  with 
questions  of  words  and  names,  about  which 


320 


"be  zealous." 


Christians  are  not  agreed.  Is  the  man  an  earn- 
est man?  If  he  is,  we  ought  to  be  satisfied. 
Earnestness  in  their  eyes  covers  over  a  multi- 
tude of  sins.  I  warn  you  solemnly  to  beware 
of  this  specious  doctrine.  In  the  name  of  the 
Gospel,  and  in  the  name  of  the  Bible,  I  enter 
my  protest  against  the  theory  that  mere  ear- 
nestness can  make  a  man  a  truly  zealous  and 
pious  man  in  the  sight  of  Grod. 

These  idolaters  of  earnestness  would  make 
out  that  God  has  given  us  no  standard  of  truth 
and  error,  or  that  the  true  standard,  the  Bible, 
is  so  obscure,  that  no  man  can  find  out  what 
truth  is  by  simply  going  to  it.  They  pour 
contempt  upon  the  word,  the  written  word, 
and  therefore  they  must  be  wrong. 

These  idolaters  of  earnestness  would  make 
us  condemn  every  witness  for  the  truth,  and 
every  opponent  of  false  teaching,  from  the 
time  of  the  Lord  Jesus  down  to  this  day.  The 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  were  in  earnest,  and  yet 
our  Lord  opposed  them.  And  shall  we  dare 
even  to  hint  a  suspicion  that  they  ought  to 
have  been  let  alone  ?    Queen  Mary,  and  Bon- 


t 


"be  zealous." 


321 


ner,  and  Gardiner  were  in  earnest  in  restoring 
Popery,  and  trying  to  put  down  Protestantism, 
and  yet  Eidley  and  Latimer  opposed  them  to 
the  death.  And  shall  we  dare  to  say  that  as 
both  parties  were  in  earnest,  both  were  in  the 
right?  Devil- worshipers  and  idolaters  at 
this  day  are  in  earnest,  and  yet  our  missiona- 
ries labor  to  expose  their  errors.  And  shall 
we  dare  to  say  that  earnestness  would  take 
them  to  heaven,  and  that  missionaries  to  heath- 
en and  Roman  Catholics  had  better  stay  at 
home  ?  Are  we  really  going  to  admit  that  the 
Bible  does  not  show  what  is  truth  ?  Are  we 
really  going  to  put  a  mere  vague  thing,  called 
"  earnestness,"  in  the  place  of  Christ,  and  to 
maintain  that  no  earnest  man  can  be  wrong  ? 
God  forbid  that  we  should  give  place  to  such 
doctrine !  I  shrink  with  horror  from  such  theol- 
ogy. I  warn  you  solemnly  to  beware  of  being 
carried  away  by  it,  for  it  is  common  and  most 
seductive  in  this  day.  Beware  of  it,  for  it  is 
only  a  new  form  of  an  old  error — that  old  er- 
ror which  says,  that  a  man  "  Can't  be  wrong 
whose  life  is  in  the  right."    Admire  zeal. 


322 


"be  zealous." 


Seek  after  zeal.  Encourage  zeal.  But  see 
that  your  own  zeal  be  true.  See  that  the  zeal, 
which  you  admire  in  others,  be  a  zeal  "  accord- 
ing to  knowledge" — a  zeal  from  right  motives 
— a  zeal  that  can  bring  chapter  and  verse  out 
of  the  Bible  for  its  foundation.  Any  zeal  but 
this  is  but  a  false  fire.  It  is  not  lighted  by  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

III.  I  pass  on  now  to  the  third  thing  I  pro- 
posed to  speak  of.  Let  me  show  you  why  it 
is  good  for  a  man  to  he  zealous. 

It  is  certain  that  God  never  gave  man  a 
commandment  which  it  was  not  man's  interest 
as  well  as  duty  to  obey.  He  never  set  a  grace 
before  his  believing  people  which  His  people 
will  not  find  it  their  highest  happiness  to  fol- 
low after.  This  is  true  of  all  the  graces  of  the 
Christian  character.  Perhaps  it  is  pre-eminent- 
ly true  in  the  case  of  zeal. 

Zeal  is  good  for  a  Christianas  own  soul.  We 
all  know  that  exercise  is  good  for  the  health, 
and  that  regular  employment  of  our  muscles 
and  limbs  promotes  our  bodily  comfort,  and 


"be  zealous." 


323 


increases  our  bodily  vigor.  Now  that  which 
exercise  does  for  our  bodies,  zeal  will  do  for 
our  souls.  It  will  help  mightily  to  promote 
inward  feelings  of  joy,  peace,  comfort,  and 
happiness.  None  have  so  much  enjoyment  of 
Christ  as  those  who  are  ever  zealous  for  His 
glory — jealous  over  their  own  walk — tender 
over  their  own  consiences — fall  of  anxiety 
about  the  souls  of  others — and  ever  watching, 
working,  laboring,  striving,  and  toiling  to  ex- 
tend the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  upon  earth. 
Such  men  hve  in  the  full  light  of  the  sun,  and 
therefore  their  hearts  are  always  warm.  Such 
men  water  others,  and  therefore  they  are  water- 
ed themselves.  Their  hearts  are  like  a  garden 
daily  refreshed  by  the  dew  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
They  honor  God,  and  so  God  honors  them. 

I  would  not  be  mistaken  in  saying  this.  I 
would  not  appear  to  speak  slightingly  of  any 
believer.  I  know  that  the  Lord  takes  pleasure 
in  all  His  people.  There  is  not  one  from  the 
least  to  the  greatest — from  the  smallest  child 
in  the  kingdom  of  God,  to  the  oldest  warrior 
in  the  battle  against  Satan — there  is  not  one  in 


324 


"be  zealous." 


•whom  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  does  not  take 
great  pleasure.  "We  are  all  His  children ; — 
and  however  weak  and  feeble  some  of  us  may 
be,  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  does  the 
Lord  pity  them  that  love  and  fear  Him.  "We 
are  all  the  plants  of  His  own  planting ; — and 
though  many  of  lis  are  poor,  weakly  exotics, 
scarcely  keeping  life  together  in  a  foreign  soil 
— yet  as  the  gardener  loves  that  which  his 
hands  have  reared,  so  does  the  Lord  Jesus  love 
the  poor  sinner  that  trusts  in  Him.  But  while 
I  say  this,  I  do  also  believe  that  the  Lord  takes 
special  pleasure  in  those  who  are  zealous  for 
Him — in  those  who  give  themselves  body,  soul, 
and  spirit,  to  extend  His  glory  in  this  world. 
To  them  He  reveals  Himself,  as  He  does  not 
to  others.  To  them  He  shows  things  that 
other  men  never  see.  He  blesses  the  work  of 
their  hands.  He  cheers  them  with  spiritual 
consolations,  which  others  only  know  by  the 
hearing  of  the  ear.  They  are  men  after  His 
own  heart,  for  they  are  men  more  like  Himself 
than  others.  None  have  such  joy  and  peace  in 
believing — none  have  such  sensible  comfort  in 


"be  zealous." 


325 


tlieir  religion — none  have  so  mucli  of  heaven 
upon  earth — none  see  and  feel  so  much  of  the 
consolations  of  the  Gospel  as  those  who  are 
zealous,  earnest,  thorough-going,  devoted  Chris- 
tians. For  the  sake  of  our  own  souls,  if  there 
■were  no  other  reason,  it  is  good  to  be  zealous 
— to  be  very  zealous  in  our  religion. 

Header,  as  zeal  is  good  for  ourselves  indi- 
vidually, so  it  is  also  good  for  the  professing 
Church  of  Christ  generally.  Nothing  so  much 
keeps  alive  true  religion  as  a  leaven  of  zeal- 
ous Christians  scattered  to  and  fro  throughout 
a  Church.  Like  salt,  they  prevent  the  whole 
body  falling  into  a  state  of  corruption.  None 
but  men  of  this  kind  can  revive  Churches 
when  ready  to  die.  It  is  impossible  to  over- 
estimate the  debt  that  all  Christians  owe  to 
zeal.  The  greatest  mistake  the  rulers  of  a 
Church  can  maks,  is  to  drive  zealous  men  out 
of  its  pale.  By  so  doing  they  drain  out  the 
life-blood  of  the  system,  and  hasten  on  eccle- 
siastical decline  and  death. 

Zeal  is  in  truth  that  grace  which  God  seems 
to  delight  to  honor.    Look  through  the  list  of 


326 


"be  zealous." 


Christians  who  have  been  eminent  for  useful- 
ness. Who  are  the  men  that  have  left  the 
deepest  and  most  indelible  marks  on  the  Church 
of  their  day?  Who  are  the  men  that  God 
has  generally  honored  to  build  up  the  walls 
of  His  Zion,  and  turn  the  battle  from  the  gate  ? 
Not  so  much  men  of  learning  and  literary  tal- 
ents, as  men  of  zeal. 

Bishop  Latimer  was  not  such  a  deeply  read 
scholar  as  Cranmer  or  Ridley.  He  could  not 
quote  fathers  from  memory  as  they  did.  He 
refused  to  be  drawn  into  arguments  about  an- 
tiquity. He  stuck  to  his  Bible.  Yet  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  no  English  reformer  made 
such  a  lasting  impression  on  the  nation  as  old 
Latimer  did.  And  what  was  the  reason? 
His  simple  zeal. 

Baxter,  the  puritan,  was  not  equal  to  some 
of  his  cotemporaries  in  intellectual  gifts.  It 
is  no  disparagement  to  say  that  he  does  not 
stand  on  a  level  with  Manton  or  Owen.  Yet 
few  men  probably  exercised  so  wide  an  influ- 
ence on  the  generation  in  which  he  lived. 
And  what  was  the  reason?    His  burning  zeal. 


"be  zealous." 


327 


Whitefield,  and  Wesley,  and  Berridge,  and 
Yenn,  were  inferior  in  mental  attainments  to 
Bishops  Butler  and  "Watson.  But  they  pro- 
duced effects  on  the  people  of  this  country 
which  fifty  Butlers  and  Watsons  would  prob- 
ably never  have  produced.  They  saved  the 
Church  of  England  from  ruin.  And  what 
was  one  secret  of  their  power  ?    Their  zeal. 

These  men  stood  forward  at  turning-points 
in  the  history  of  the  Church.  They  bore  un- 
moved storms  of  opposition  and  persecution. 
They  were  not  afraid  to  stand  alone.  They 
cared  not  though  their  motives  were  misinter- 
preted. They  counted  all  things  but  loss  for 
the  truth's  sake.  They  were  each  and  all  and 
every  one  eminently  men  of  one  tiling — and 
that  one  thing  was  to  advance  the  glory  of 
God,  and  to  maintain  His  truth  in  the  world. 
They  were  all  fire,  and  so  they  lighted  others. 
They  were  wide  awake,  and  so  they  awakened 
others.  They  were  all  alive,  and  so  they  quick- 
ened others.  They  were  always  working,  and 
so  they  shamed  others  into  working  too.  They 
came  down  upon  men  like  Moses  from  the 


S28 


"be  zealous." 


mount.  They  shone  as  if  they  had  been  in  the 
presence  of  God.  They  carried  to  and  fro 
with  them,  as  they  walked  their  course  through, 
the  world,  something  of  the  atmosphere  and 
savor  of  heaven  itself 

There  is  a  sense  in  which  it  may  be  said 
that  zeal  is  contagious.  Nothing  is  more  use- 
ful to  the  professors  of  Christianity  than  to  see 
a  real  live  Christian- — a  thoroughly  zealous 
man  of  God.  They  may  rail  at  him.  They 
may  carp  at  him — They  may  pick  holes  in 
his  conduct.  They  may  look  shy  upon  him. 
They  may  not  understand  him  any  more  than 
men  understand  a  new  comet,  when  a  new 
comet  appears ; — but  insensibly  a  zealous  man 
does  them  good.  He  opens  their  eyes.  He 
makes  them  feel  their  own  sleepiness.  He 
makes  their  own  great  darkness  visible.  He 
obliges  them  to  see  their  own  barrenness.  He 
compels  them  to  think,  whether  they  like  it  or 
not — "  What  are  we  doing  ?  Are  we  not  no 
better  than  mere  cumberers  of  the  ground  ?" 
It  may  be  sadly  true  that  "  one  sinner  destroy- 
eth  much  good ;"  but  it  is  also  a  blessed  truth 


"be  zealous." 


&29 


that  one  zealous  Christian  can  do  much  good. 
Yes !  one  single  zealous  man  in  a  town — one 
zealous  man  in  a  congregation— one  zealous 
man  in  a  Society — one  zealous  man  in  a  family- 
may  be  a  great,  a  most  extensive  blessing. 
How  many  machines  of  usefulness  such  a  man 
sets  a  going !  How  much  Christian  activity 
he  often  calls  into  being  which  would  other- 
wise have  slept!  How  many  fountains  he 
opens  which  would  otherwise  have  been  seal- 
ed 1  Verily  there  is  a  deep  mine  of  truth  in 
those  words  of  the  apostle  Paul  to  the  Corin- 
thians, "your zeal  hath  provoked  very  many." 
2  Cor.  ix.  2. 

But,  as  zeal  is  good  for  the  Church  and  for 
individuals,  so  zeal  is  good  for  the  world. 
Where  would  the  Missionary  work  be  if  it 
were  not  for  zeal  ?  Where  would  our  City 
Missions  and  Ragged  Schools  be  if  it  were  not 
for  zeal  ?  Where  would  our  District- Visiting 
and  Pastoral  Aid  Societies  be  if  it  were  not 
for  zeal  ?  Where  would  be  our  Societies  for 
rooting  out  sin  and  ignorance,  for  finding  out 
the  dark  places  of  the  earth,  and  recovering 
28* 


330 


"BE  ZEALOUS," 


poor  lost  souls?  "Where  would  be  all  these 
glorious  instruments  for  good  if  it  were  not  for 
Christian  zeal?  Zeal  called  these  institutions 
into  being,  and  zeal  keeps  them  at  work  when 
they  have  begun.  Zeal  gathers  a  few  despised 
men  and  makes  them  the  nucleus  of  many  a 
powerful  Society.  Zeal  keeps  up  the  collec- 
tions of  a  Society  when  it  is  formed.  Zeal 
prevents  men  from  becoming  lazy  and  sleepy 
when  the  machine  is  large,  and  begins  to  get 
favor  from  the  world.  Zeal  raises  up  men  to 
go  forth,  putting  their  lives  in  their  hands,  like 
Moffatt  and  Williams  in  our  own  day.  Zeal 
supplies  their  place  when  they  are  gathered 
into  the  garner,  as  Weitbrecht  was  not  long 
ago. 

"What  would  become  of  the  ignorant  masses 
who  crowd  the  lanes  and  alleys  of  our  over- 
grown cities,  if  it  were  not  for  Christian  zeal? 
Governments  can  do  nothing  with  them :  they 
can  not  make  laws  that  will  meet  the  evil. 
The  vast  majority  of  professing  Christians  have 
no  eyes  to  see  it :  like  the  priest  and  Levite, 
they  pass  by  on  the  other  side.    But  zeal  has 


"BE  ZEALOUS." 


831 


eyes  to  see,  and  a  heart  to  feel,  and  a  head  to 
devise,  and  a  tongue  to  plead,  and  hands  to 
work,  and  feet  to  travel,  in  order  to  rescue 
poor  souls,  and  raise  them  from  their  low  es- 
tate. Zeal  does  not  stand  poring  over  difficul- 
ties, but  simply  says,  "  Here  are  souls  perish- 
ing, and  something  shall  be  done."  Zeal  does 
not  shrink  back  because  there  are  Anakims 
in  the  way :  it  looks  over  their  heads,  like 
Moses  on  Pisgah,  and  says,  "  The  land  shall  be 
possessed."  Zeal  does  not  wait  for  company, 
and  tarry  till  good  works  are  fashionable :  it 
goes  forward  like  a  forlorn  hope,  and  trusts 
that  others  will  follow  by  and  by.  Ah ! 
reader,  the  world  little  knows  what  a  debt  it 
owes  to  Christian  zeal.  How  much  crime  it 
has  checked  1  How  much  sedition  it  has  pre- 
vented !  How  much  public  discontent  it  has 
calmed  I  How  much  obedience  to  law  and 
love  of  order  it  has  produced !  How  many 
souls  it  has  saved !  Yes !  and  I  believe  we 
little  know  what  might  be  done  if  every  Chris- 
tian was  a  zealous  man !  How  much  if  minis- 
ters were  more  like  Bickersteth,  and  White- 


332 


"be  zealous." 


field,  and  M'Cheyne!  How  mucli  if  laymen 
were  more  like  Howard,  and  Wilberforce,  and 
Thornton,  and  Nasmitii !  Oh !  for  the  world's 
sake,  as  well  as  your  own,  resolve,  labor,  strive 
to  be  a  zealous  Christian  I 

Beware,  I  beseech  you,  of  checking  zeal. 
Seek  it.  Cultivate  it.  Try  to  blow  up  the 
fire  in  your  own  heart,  and  the  hearts  of  others, 
but  never,  never  check  it.  Beware  of  throw- 
ing cold  water  on  zealous  souls,  whenever  you 
meet  with  them.  Beware  of  nipping  in  the 
bud  this  precious  grace  when  first  it  shoots. 
If  you  are  a  parent,  beware  of  checking  it  in 
your  children ; — ^if  you  are  a  husband,  beware 
of  checking  it  in  your  wife; — if  you  are  a 
brother,  beware  of  checking  it  in  your  sisters 
— and  if  you  are  a  minister,  beware  of  check- 
ing it  in  the  members  of  your  congregation. 
It  is  a  shoot  of  heaven's  own  planting.  Be- 
ware of  crushing  it,  for  Christ's  sake.  Zeal 
may  make  mistakes.  Zeal  may  need  direct- 
ing. Zeal  may  want  guiding,  controlling, 
and  advising.  Like  the  elephants  on  ancient 
fields  of  battle,  it  may  sometimes  do  injury  to 


"be  zealous." 


333 


its  own  side.  But  zeal  does  not  need  damping 
in  a  wretched,  cold,  corrupt,  miserable  world 
like  this.  Zeal,  like  John  Knox  pulling  down 
the  Scotch  monasteries,  may  hurt  the  feelings 
of  narrow-minded  and  sleepy  Christians.  It 
may  offend  the  prejudices  of  those  old-fashioned 
religionists,  who  hate  every  thing  new,  and 
(like  those  who  wanted  soldiers  and  sailors  to 
go  on  wearing  pigtails),  abhor  all  change.  But 
zeal  in  the  end  will  be  justified  by  its  results. 
Zeal  like  John  Knox,  in  the  long  run  of  life, 
will  do  infinitely  more  good  than  harm.  Oh ! 
reader,  there  is  little  danger  of  their  ever  being 
too  much  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God.  God  for- 
give those  who  think  there  is !  You  know 
little  of  human  nature.  You  forget  that  sick- 
ness is  far  more  contagious  than  health,  and 
that  it  is  much  easier  to  catch  a  cold  than  im- 
part a  glow.  Depend  upon  it,  the  Church  sel- 
dom needs  a  bridle,  but  often  needs  a  spur, 
It  seldom  needs  to  be  checked,  it  often  needs 
to  be  urged  on. 

And  now  in  conclusion  let  me  try  to  apply 
this  subject  to  the  conscience  of  every  person 


334 


"be  zealous." 


who  reads  this  tract.  It  is  a  warning  subject 
— an  arousing  subject — an  encouraging  subject 
— according  to  the  state  of  our  several  hearts. 
I  wish  by  God's  help  to  give  every  reader  his 
portion. 

1.  First  of  all  let  me  offer  a  warning  to  all 
who  make  no  decided  profession  of  religion. 
There  are  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  I 
fear,  in  this  condition.  Eeader,  if  you  are  one, 
the  subject  before  you  is  full  of  solemn  warn- 
ing. Oh !  that  the  Lord  in  mercy  may  incline 
your  heart  to  receive  it ! 

I  ask  you  then,  in  all  affection,  "Where  is 
your  zeal  in  religion  ?  With  the  Bible  before 
me,  I  may  well  be  bold  in  asking.  But  with 
your  life  before  me,  I  may  well  tremble  as  to 
the  answer.  I  ask  again,  Where  is  your  zeal 
for  the  glory  of  God?  Where  is  your  zeal 
for  extending  Christ's  Gospel  through  an  evil 
world  ?  Zeal,  which  was  the  characteristic  of 
the  Lord  Jesus — zeal  which  is  the  character- 
istic of  the  angels — zeal,  which  shines  forth  in 
all  the  brightest  Christians — where  is  your 
zeal,  unconverted  reader — where  is  your  zeal 


"be  zealous.'' 


835 


indeed  ?  You  know  well  it  is  nowhere  at  all. 
You  know  well  you  see  no  beauty  in  it.  You 
know  well  it  is  scorned  and  cast  out  as  an  evil 
by  you  and  your  companions.  You  know 
well  it  has  no  place,  no  portion,  no  standing 
ground,  in  the  religion  of  your  soul.  It  is  not 
that  you  know  not  what  it  is  to  be  aealoua. 
You  have  zeal,  but  it  is  all  misapplied.  It  is 
aU  earthly.  It  is  all  above  the  things  of  time. 
It  is  not  zeal  for  the  glory  of  Gx)d.  It  is  not 
zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  Yes !  many  a 
man  has  zeal  for  the  newspaper,  but  not  for 
the  Bible — zeal  for  the  daily  reading  of  the 
"  Times,"  but  no  zeal  for  the  daily  reading  of 
God's  blessed  Word.  Many  a  man  has  zeal 
for  the  account-book  and  the  business-book, 
but  no  zeal  about  the  book  of  life,  and  the  last 
great  account — zeal  about  Australian  and  Cali- 
fornian  gold,  but  no  zeal  about  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  Christ.  Many  a  man  has  zeal 
about  his  earthly  concerns — his  family,  his 
pleasures,  his  daily  pursuits,  but  no  zeal  about 
God,  and  heaven,  and  eternity. 

Eeader,  if  this  is  your  case,  awake,  I  do  be- 


336 


"be  zealous." 


seech,  you,  to  see  your  gross  folly.  You  can 
not  live  forever.  You  are  not  ready  to  die. 
You  are  utterly  unfit  for  the  company  of  saints 
and  angels.  Awake !  be  zealous  and  repent. 
Awake  to  see  the  harm  you  are  doing.  You 
are  putting  arguments  in  the  hands  of  infidels 
by  your  shameful  coldness.  You  are  pulling 
down  as  fast  as  ministers  build.  You  are  help- 
ing the  devil.  Awake!  be  zealous,  and  repent. 
Awake  to  see  your  childish  inconsistency. 
What  can  be  more  worthy  of  zeal  than  eternal 
tbings — than  the  glory  of  God— than  the  sal- 
vation of  souls  ?  Surely  if  it  is  good  to  labor 
for  rewards  that  are  temporal,  it  is  a  thousand 
times  better  to  labor  for  those  that  are  eternal. 
Awake !  be  zealous  and  repent.  Go  and  read 
that  long-neglected  Bible.  Take  up  that 
blessed  Book  which  you  have,  and  perhaps 
never  use.  Read  that  New  Testament  through. 
Do  you  find  nothing  there  to  make  you  zeal- 
ous, to  make  you  earnest  about  your  soul? 
Go  and  look  at  the  cross  of  Christ.  Go  and 
see  how  the  Son  of  God  there  shed  His  pre- 
cious blood  for  you — ^how  he  suffered  and 


"be  zealous." 


837 


groaned,  and  died  for  you — how  He  poiared 
out  His  soul  as  an  offering  for  sin,  in  order  that 
you,  sinful  brother  or  sister,  might  not  perish, 
but  have  eternal  life.  Go  and  look  at  the  cross 
of  Christ,  and  never  rest  tiU  you  feel  some 
zeal  for  your  own  soul — some  zeal  for  the  glory 
of  God — some  zeal  for  extension  of  the  Gos- 
pel throughout  the  world. 

2.  Let  me  in  the  next  place  say  something 
to  arouse  those  who  make  a  profession  of  being 
decided  Christians,  and  are  yet  lukewarm  in 
their  practice.  There  are  only  too  many,  I  re- 
gret to  say,  in  this  state  of  soul.  Eeader,  if 
you  are  one,  there  is  much  in  this  subject 
which  ought  to  lead  you  to  searchings  of  heart. 

Let  me  speak  to  your  conscience.  To  you 
also  I  desire  to  put  the  question  in  all  brother- 
ly aflTection,  where  is  your  zeal  ?  Where  is  your 
zeal  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  for  extending 
the  Gospel  throughout  the  world  ?  You  know 
well  it  is  very  low.  You  know  well  that  your 
zeal  is  a  little  feeble  glimmering  spark,  that 
just  lives,  and  no  more ; — it  is  like  a  thing 
ready  to  die.  Surely,  there  is  a  fault  some- 
29 


838 


"be  zealous." 


•where,  if  this  is  the  case.  This  state  of  things 
ought  not  to  be.  You,  the  child  of  God — ^you, 
redeemed  at  so  glorious  a  price — you,  ransom- 
ed with  such  precious  blood — you,  who  are  an 
heir  of  glory  such  as  no  tongue  ever  yet  told, 
or  eye  saw ; — surely  you  ought  to  be  a  man  of 
another  kind.  Surely  your  zeal  ought  not  to 
be  so  small. 

I  deeply  feel  that  this  is  a  painful  subject  to 
touch  upon.  I  do  it  with  reluctance,  and  with 
a  constant  remembrance  of  my  own  unprofit- 
ableness. Nevertheless,  truth  ought  to  be 
spoken.  The  plain  truth  is  that  many  believ- 
ers in  the  present  day  seem  so  dreadfully  afraid 
of  doing  harm  that  they  hardly  ever  dare  to 
do  good.  There  are  many  who  are  frmtful  in 
objections,  but  barren  in  actions ; — rich  in  wet 
blankets,  but  poor  in  any  thing  like  Christian 
fire.  They  are  like  the  Dutch  deputies  who 
would  never  allow  Marlborough  to  venture 
any  thing,  and  by  their  excessive  caution  pre- 
vented many  a  victory  being  won.  Truly,  in 
looking  round  the  Church  of  Christ,  a  man 
might  sometimes  think  that  God's  kingdom 


"be  zealous." 


339 


had  come,  and  God's  will  was  being  done  upon 
eartli,  so  small  is  the  zeal  that  some  believers 
show.  It  is  vain  to  deny  it.  I  need  not  go 
far  for  evidence.  I  point  to  Societies  for  doing 
good  to  the  heathen,  the  colonies  and  the  dark 
places  of  our  own  land,  languishing  and  stand- 
ing still  for  want  of  active  support.  I  ask,  is 
this  zeal  ?  I  point  to  thousands  of  miserable 
guinea  subscriptions  which  are  never  missed  by 
the  givers,  and  yet  make  up  the  sum  of  their 
Christian  liberality.  I  ask,  is  this  zeal?  I 
point  to  false  doctrine  allowed  to  grow  up  in 
parish  es  and  families  without  an  effort  being 
made  to  check  it,  while  so-called  believers  look 
on,  and  content  themselves  with  wishing  it  was 
not  so.  I  ask,  is  this  zeal?  Would  the  apostles 
have  been  satisfied  with  such  a  state  of  things  ? 
"We  know  they  would  not. 

Header,  if  your  conscience  pleads  guilty  to 
any  participation  in  the  short-comings  I  have 
spoken  of,  I  call  upon  you,  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  to  awake,  be  zealous,  and  repent.  Let 
not  zeal  be  confined  to  Lincoln's  Inn,  the  Tem- 
ple, and  "Westminster ; — to  banks,  and  shops, 


340 


"be  zealous." 


and  counting-liouses.  Let  us  see  the  same 
zeal  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  Let  not  zeal  be 
abundant  to  get  gold  from  Australia,  and  res- 
cue Franklin  from  thick-ribbed  ice,  but  defect- 
ive to  send  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen,  or  to 
pluck  Roman  Catholics  like  brands  from  the 
fire,  or  to  enlighten  the  dark  places  of  the  col- 
onies of  this  great  land.  Never  were  there 
such  doors  of  usefulness  opened — never  were 
there  so  many  opportunities  for  doing  good. 
I  loathe  that  squeamishness  which  refuses  to 
help  religious  works  if  there  is  a  blemish  about 
the  instrument  by  which  the  work  is  carried 
on.  At  this  rate  we  might  never  do  any  thing 
at  all.  Resist  the  feeling,  reader,  if  you  are 
tempted  by  it.  It  is  one  of  Satan's  devices. 
It  is  better  to  work  with  feeble  instruments 
than  not  to  work  at  all.  At  all  events,  try  to 
do  something  for  God  and  Christ — something 
against  ignorance  and  sin.  Give,  collect,  teach, 
exhort,  visit,  pray,  according  as  God  enables 
you.  Only  make  up  your  mind  that  all  can 
do  something,  and  resolve  that  by  you,  at  any 
rate,  something  shall  be  done.    If  you  have 


"be  zealous." 


341 


only  one  talent,  do  not  bury  it  in  the  ground. 
Try  to  live  so  as  to  be  missed.  There  is  far 
more  to  be  done  in  twelve  hours  than  most  of 
us  have  ever  yet  done  on  any  day  in  our  lives. 

Think  of  the  precious  souls  which  are  per- 
ishing while  you  are  sleeping.  Be  taken  up 
with  your  inward  conflicts  if  you  will.  Go  on 
anatomizing  your  own  feelings,  and  poring 
over  your  own  corruptions,  if  you  are  so  de- 
termined. But  remember  all  this  time  souls 
are  going  to  hell,  and  you  might  do  something 
to  save  them  by  working,  by  giving,  by  writ- 
ing, by  begging,  and  by  prayer.  Oh  !  awake, 
be  zealous,  and  repent. 

Think  of  the  shortness  of  time.  You  will 
soon  be  gone.  You  will  have  no  opportunity 
for  works  of  mercy  in  another  world.  In 
heaven  there  will  be  no  ignorant  people  to  in- 
struct, and  no  unconverted  to  reclaim.  What- 
ever you  do  must  be  done  now.  Oh  !  when 
are  you  going  to  begin  ?  Awake !  be  zealous, 
and  repent. 

Think  of  the  devil,  and  his  zeal  to  do  harm. 
It  was  a  solemn  saying  of  old  Bernard  when 
29* 


342 


"be  zealous." 


he  said  tliat  "  Satan  would  rise  up  in  judg- 
ment against  some  people  at  tlie  last  day,  be- 
cause lie  had  shown  more  zeal  to  ruin  souls  than 
they  had  to  save  them."  Awake !  be  zealous, 
and  repent. 

Think  of  your  Saviour^  and  all  his  zeal  for 
you.  Think  of  Him  in  Gethsemane  and  on 
Calvary,  shedding  His  blood  for  sinners. 
Think  of  His  life  and  death — His  sufferings 
and  His  doings.  This  He  has  done  for  you. 
"What  are  you  doing  for  Him  ?  Oh  !  resolve 
that  for  the  time  to  come  you  will  spend  and 
be  spent  for  Christ.  Awake  !  be  zealous,  and 
repent. 

3.  Last  of  all  let  me  encourage  all  read- 
ers of  this  tract  who  are  truly  zealous  Chris- 
tians. 

I  have  but  one  request  to  make,  and  that  is 
that  you  will  persevere.  I  do  beseech  you  to 
hold  fast  your  zeal,  and  never  let  it  go.  I  do 
beseech  you  never  to  go  back  from  your  first 
works,  never  to  leave  your  first  love,  never  to 
let  it  be  said  of  you  that  your  first  things  were 
better  than  your  last.    Beware  of  cooling 


"be  zealous." 


343 


down.  You  have  only  to  be  lazy,  and  to.  sit 
still,  and  you  will  soon  lose  all  your  warmtli. 
You  wUl  soon  become  another  man  from  what 
you  are  now.  Oh  !  reader,  do  not  think  this 
a  needless  exhortation. 

It  may  be  very  true  that  wise  young  believ- 
ers are  very  rare.  But  it  is  no  less  true  that 
zealous  old  believers  are  very  rare  also.  Nev- 
er allow  yourself  to  think  that  you  can  do  too 
much — that  you  can  spend  and  be  spent  too 
much  for  Christ's  cause.  For  one  man  that 
does  too  much  I  will  show  you  a  thousand  who 
do  not  do  enough.  Rather  think  that  the 
night  Cometh,  when  no  man  can  work — and 
give,  collect,  teach,  visit,  work,  pray,  as  if  you 
were  doing  it  for  the  last  time.  Lay  to  heart 
the  words  of  that  noble-minded  Jansenist,  who 
said  when  told  that  he  ought  to  rest  a  little, 
"  What  should  we  rest  for  ?  have  we  not  all 
eternity  to  rest  in  ?" 

Fear  not  the  reproach  of  men.  Faint  not 
because  you  are  sometimes  abused.  Heed  it 
not  if  you  are  sometimes  called  bigot,  enthu- 
siast, fanatic,  madman,  and  fool.    There  is 


344 


"be  zealous." 


nothing  disgraceful  in  these  titles.  They  have 
often  been  given  to  the  best  and  wisest  of  men. 
»  K  you  are  only  to  be  zealous  when  you  are 
praised  for  it — if  the  wheels  of  your  zeal  must 
be  oiled  by  the  world's  commendation,  your 
zeal  will  be  but  short-lived.  Care  not  for  the 
praise  or  frown  of  man.  There  is  but  one 
thing  worth  caring  for,  and  that  is  the  praise 
of  God.  There  is  but  one  question  worth 
asking  about  our  actions,  "How  will  they  look 
in  the  day  of  judgment?" 

Eeader,  I  lay  these  thoughts  before  you,  and 
I  ask  you  seriously  to  consider  them. 

If  you  are  not  yet  a  zealous  man,  I  pray 
that  God  may  make  you  one.  If  you  are,  I 
pray  that  your  zeal  may  increase  more  and 
more  to  your  life's  end. 

I  remain  youx  affectionate  Friend, 

J.  C.  EYLE. 


j 


VI. 

I  |ak  Som^to^at  U  Sag  mU 


VI 


LUKB  TO.  40. 

Eeader, 

I  do  not  know  who  you  are.  I  know  not 
whether  you  are  old  or  young,  or  rich  or  poor, 
or  learned  or  unlearned.  I  only  know  that 
you  are  a  child  of  Adam,  and  have  a  soul  to 
be  lost  or  saved.  And  therefore  I  say,  "  Hear 
me  I    I  have  somewhat  to  say  unto  thee  /" 

Reader,  I  have  four  things  to  say,  and  they 
shall  soon  be  said.  The  Lord  make  them 
Avords  in  season  to  your'  soul. 

I.  Firstly,  I  have  a  word  of  wishes  and 
DESIRES  for  every  man  and  woman  into  whose 
hands  this  tract  may  fall. 

I  tell  you,  it  is  my  heart's  desire  and  prayer 
to  God  for  you,  that  you  may  be  saved.  I 


348  "l  HAVE  SOMEWHAT 


■vsrant  you  to  be  convinced  of  your  sinfulness 
in  the  sight  of  God,  to  feel  your  need  of  a 
Saviour,  to  know  Christ  by  faith,  and  to  have 
eternal  life  in  Him. 

I  wish  you  to  be  one  who  knows  his  own 
lost  condition  by  nature — his  own  corruption, 
guilt,  and  danger  of  eternal  ruin — his  need  of 
a  righteousness  far  better  than  his  own,  wherein 
to  appear  before  God  at  the  day  of  judgment. 
I  wish  you  to  be  one  who  actually  apphes  to 
Christ  for  peace,  and  casts  the  burden  of  his 
soul  upon  Him — who  believes  on  Him  for  for- 
giveness— who  trusts  Him  for  deliverance  from 
all  transgression,  and  forsaking  all  other  hopes 
and  confidence,  draws  from  Him  all  his  com- 
fort and  strength.  I  should  like  you  to  be  one 
who  lives  by  faith,  stands  by  faith,  walks  by 
faith — who  receives  with  the  heart  that  grand 
truth,  "  He  that  believeth  on  Jesus  is  not  con- 
demned," and  rests  securely  upon  it. 

This  faith  is  the  only  principle  that  produces 
real  inward  holiness.  This  is  the  faith  that 
sanctifies  a  man — ^that  purifies  the  heart — that 
overcomes  the  world — that  works  by  love — 


TO  SAY  UNTO  THEE,"  349 


that  brings  forth  fruit.  He  that  hath  this  faith 
is  born  of  God  and  an  heir  of  glory.  He  that 
hath  it  not,  is  not  of  God,  knows  httle  of  true 
vital  Christianity  now,  and  will  be  lost  forever 
hereafter. 

Eeader,  my  best  desire  is  that  you  may  be  a 
new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus— led  by  the  Spirit 
of  God — conformed  to  your  Master's  likeness, 
and  not  unto  the  world — loving  much,  because 
much  forgiven — having  communion  with  the 
Father  and  the  Son — one  with  Christ,  and 
Christ  in  you. 

Then  I  should  feel  that  you  were  safe  ; — safe, 
though  the  Lord  should  come  in  glory,  and 
heaven  and  earth  be  dissolved,  and  the  ele- 
ments melt  with  fervent  heat — safe,  because 
ready  for  every  condition.  Judge  for  your- 
self, can  I  feel  that  for  all  who  read  this 
tract  ? 

Then  I  should  feel  that  you  were  truly  hap- 
py ; — happy,  because  the  springs  of  your  hap- 
piness would  be  in  heaven,  and  never  dry ; — 
happy,  because  your  peace  would  be  that 
blessed  peace  which  the  world  can  neither  give 
30 


350 


"l  HAVE  SOMEWHAT 


nor  take  away.  Judge  for  yourself,  can  I  feel 
that  for  all  who  read  this  tract? 

Eeader,  I  make  no  secret  of  my  wishes, 
whatever  you  may  think  of  them.  God  is  my 
witness,  these  are  my  wishes,  these  are  my  de- 
sires for  every  body. 

n.  Secondly,  I  have  a  word  of  SORROWFUL 
WARNING  for  some  into  whose  hands  this  tract 
will  fall. 

Some  of  you  know  in  your  own  hearts  and 
consciences — though  I  could  say  it  weeping — 
you  know  well,  that  you  are  not  walking  with 
God. 

You,  to  whom  I  now  speak,  know  well  that 
God's  ways  are  not  your  ways — that  although 
you  profess  and  call  yourselves  Christians, 
your  hearts  are  not  right  in  His  sight.  You 
have  no  heartfelt  hatred  for  sin.  You  have  no 
heartfelt  love  for  God's  commandments.  You 
have  no  delight  in  God's  word.  You  have  no 
pleasure  in  the  company  of  his  people.  His 
day  is  a  weariness  to  you.  His  service  is  a 
burthen.    His  ordinances  are  not  precious  to 


TO  SAT  UNTO  THEE." 


351 


your  soul.  Your  first  and  best  thoughts  are 
given  to  the  life  that  now  is — you  spend  but 
the  wreck  and  remnant  of  them  on  the  life  to 
come.  Your  treasure  is  on  earth  and  not  in 
heaven.  Your  affections  are  set  on  things  be- 
low, and  not  on  things  above.  Your  friend- 
ship is  with  the  world,  and  not  with  God. 

Oh  !  reader,  what  has  the  Lord  God  done  to 
you  that  you  should  treat  Him  in  this  fashion  ? 
What  can  the  world  do  for  you,  that  you 
should  love  it  better  than  Christ?  Would  the 
world  die  for  you  ?— No !  but  Jesus  did.  Can 
the  world  put  away  3' our  sins  ? — No !  Jesus 
alone  can.  Does  the  world  give  true  peace  in 
this  life  ? — No  !  but  Jesus  does.  Will  the 
world  give  comfort  in  death  ? — No !  but  Jesus 
will.  Can  the  world  help  you  in  the  day  of 
judgment? — No!  no!  none  but  Christ! 

Eeader,  what  will  you  do  when  God  riseth 
up,  except  you  alter?— when  He  visiteth,  what 
will  you  answer  Him,  except  you  change  ? 

Do  you  not  know,  that  whatsoever  a  man 
soweth  he  shall  also  reap  ?  He  that  soweth  to 
the  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption : — 


352  "l  HAVE  SOMEWHAT 


He  only  that  soweth  to  the  Spirit,  shall  of  the 
Spirit  reap  life  eternal.  The  world  you  think 
so  much  of  now  passeth  away.  He  only  that 
doeth  the  will  of  God  abideth  forever. 

But  God,  our  Saviour,  still  loves  you.  God 
is  not  willing  that  any  one  should  perish.  He 
sends  you  by  my  mouth  a  message  of  peace 
this  day.  Turn  from  the  broad  way  and  come 
unto  Christ  while  there  is  yet  time.  Turn 
before  the  fountain  is  sealed,  now  open  for  sin 
and  uncleanness; — before  the  Father's  house 
is  closed  forever  and  not  one  more  allowed  to 
enter ; — before  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  cease 
to  invite.    Be  wise,  repent,  return,  and  come. 

Eeader,  you  can  not  prevent  my  grieving 
over  you,  although  you  may  be  at  ease  your- 
self God  is  my  witness,  this  day  I  have  given 
you  a  warning. 

III.  Thirdly,  I  have  a  word  of  QUICKENING 
AND  STIRRING-UP  for  all  true  believers,  into 
whose  hands  this  tract  may  fall 

Reader,  I  trust  I  may  say  of  you,  you  love 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity.  Know 


TO  SAT  UNTO  THEE." 


353 


then  that  I  want  you  to  be  a  bright  and  shin- 
ing light  to  those  around  you.  I  want  you  to 
be  such  a  plain  epistle  of  Christ,  that  all  may 
read  something  of  God  on  the  face  of  your 
conversation.  I  want  you  so  to  live  that  all 
may  see  that  you  are  one  of  the  people  of  Jesus, 
and  thus  to  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in 
Leaven. 

Alas !  I  say  it  with  shame,  we  many  of  us 
bring  little  glory  to  the  Lord  who  bought  us; 
we  are  far  from  walking  worthy  of  our  voca- 
tion. How  weak  is  our  faith !  How  fleeting 
our  sorrow  for  sin !  How  faint  our  self-denial ! 
How  soon  spent  our  patience !  How  thin  and 
threadbare  our  humility!  How  formal  our 
prayers !  How  cold  our  love !  We  are  called 
God's  witnesses,  but  truly  our  witness  is  often 
little  better  than  silence  ; — it  is  but  an  uncer- 
tain sound.  We  are  called  the  light  of  the 
world,  but  we  are — many  of  us — poor,  glim- 
mering sparks  that  can  only  just  be  seen.  We 
are  called  the  salt  of  the  earth,  but  we  scarcely 
do  any  thing  to  make  our  Saviour  felt  and 
known.  We  are  called  pilgrims  and  strangers, 
30* 


854  "I  HAVE  SOME'R'HAT 


but  those  who  observe  us  might  sometimes 
think  this  world  was  our  only  home.  Often, 
too  often,  we  prove  to  be  one  thing  in  name, 
and  another  in  reality ; — high  in  our  profes- 
sions, but  low  in  our  practice ; — giants  in  our 
resolutions,  but  infants  in  our  actions ; — angels 
and  spiritual  in  our  talking,  heathen,  or  little 
better,  in  our  doing ; — goodly,  like  NaptaH,  in 
our  words — unstable  like  Eeuben  in  our 
■works. 

Oh !  believing  readers,  these  things  ought 
not  so  to  be.  We  must  not  be  content  with  a 
low  measure  of  holiness.  We  must  not  rest 
satisfied  with  a  little  sanctification.  We  miist 
not  think  it  is  enough,  because  we  have  at- 
tained a  small  degree  of  grace,  and  are  just 
one  step  better  than  the  world.  No !  indeed, 
we  must  go  forward  from  strength  to  strength. 
We  must  shine  more  and  more  unto  the  per- 
fect day.    We  must  strive  to  bear  much  fruit. 

Christ  did  not  give  Himself  for  us  that  we 
should  be  a  sleeping  generation — trees  that 
grow  not — always  standing  still.  He  would 
have  us  be  a  peculiar  people  zealous  of  good 


TO  SAY  UNTO  THEE." 


355 


works — valiant  for  the  truth — fervent  in  spirit 
— living  not  unto  ourselves,  but  unto  Him. 
Freely  saved,  we  should  freely  and  willingly 
labor.  Freely  forgiven,  we  should  freely  and 
cheerfully  work.  Freely  redeemed  from  more 
than  Egyptian  bondage,  we  should  count  it  a 
pleasure  and  a  privilege  to  serve  the  Lord. 
Our  lives  should  be  books  of  evidences.  Our 
acts  should  tell  out  whose  we  are.  "  Ye  are 
my  friends,"  saith  Jesus,  "  if  ye  do  whatsoever 
I  command  you." 

Brother  or  sister,  what  do  you  in  the  world  ? 
Where  is  the  proof  of  your  growth  in  grace? 
Are  you  awake,  or  are  you  asleep  ?  Are  there 
no  tempers  you  might  keep  under  more  strict- 
ly ?  Is  there  no  sort  of  besetting  sin  you  are 
shamefully  sparing?  Is  there  no  time  you 
might  employ  more  usefully  ?  Is  there  no 
kind  of  selfishness  you  are  secretly  indulging? 
Is  there  no  good  you  have  the  means  of  doing, 
and  leave  undone  ?  Are  there  no  dady  habits 
you  might  alter  for  the  better  ?  Are  there  no 
spots  on  your  spiritual  garments  which  you 
never  seek  to  have  washed  out  ?    Are  there 


356 


"l  HAVE  SOMEWHAT 


no  friends  and  relations  you  are  letting  alone 
in  their  sins  ?  Oh  !  that  you  may  deal  more 
honestly  with  yourselves  than  you  have  dotie 
hitherto  !    The  Lord  is  at  hand. 

Brother  or  sister,  look  within.  Take  heed 
lest  a  deceitful  heart,  and  an  ensnaring  world, 
and  a  busy  devil,  turn  you  out  of  the  way. 
Study  a  tender  conscience.  Beware  of  indo- 
lence under  the  cloak  of  false  humility.  Make 
not  the  old  Adam,  and  the  devil,  an  excuse  for 
little  sins.  Let  the  least  things  of  your  daily 
life  be  done  well ; — like  the  shekel  of  the 
sanctuary,  let  them  be  good  measure — let  them 
be  even  more  than  full  weight.  "Watch  ye, 
stand  fast,  quit  you  like  men.  They  that  fol- 
low the  Lord  fully  are  those  that  follow  Him 
most  comfortably.  Be  'zealous  though  the 
world  may  sleep. 

Brother  or  sister,  I  give  you  this  word  of 
quickening,  in  love.  I  would  not  have  you 
be  the  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  I 
would  not  like  you  to  be  the  palest  and  dim- 
mest among  the  stars  in  glory.  I  want  you 
not  only  to  be  scarcely  saved,  and  so  as  by  fire, 


TO  SAY  UNTO  THEE."  357 


but  to  receive  a  full  reward.  Then  lay  these 
things  well  to  heart. 

rV.  Fourthly,  I  have  words  of  advice  for 
every  one  that  desires  to  be  a  real  Christian. 

One  part  of  my  advice  is  this — Search  the 
Scriptures.^''  They  only  are  able  to  make  you 
wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus.  They  are  the  truth  of  God 
They  must  be  fulfilled.  They  can  not  be  brok- 
en. And  yet  they  are  the  book  which  many 
have,  and  very  few  read. 

Reader,  beware  lest  an  unread  Bible  be  an 
awful  witness  against  you  at  the  last  day.  If 
you  would  have  your  soul  saved,  read  the  Bi- 
ble. If  you  would  not  be  always  wavering 
and  carried  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine, 
read  the  Bible.  Read  it  regularly.  Read  it 
all.  Be  a  Bible-reading  Christian,  whatever 
the  world  may  say.  Make  time  for  this,  what- 
ever others  may  do.  Remember  my  advice. 
If  you  would  not  lose  your  own  soul,  read  tlie 
BihU. 

Another  piece  of  advice  is  this — Pray 


358 


"l  HAVE  SOMEWHAT 


without  ceasing.''''  Prayer  is  the  only  way  by 
wliicli  man  can  approacli  God.  Prayer  is  tlie 
only  messenger  we  can  send  to  tell  God  wliat 
we  want ;  and  if  we  would  have  good  things 
for  our  souls,  we  must  ask  for  them.  Prayer 
opens  the  treasuries  of  God's  mercies  lik6  a 
key  ;  if  we  ask,  we  shall  receive.  Prayer  is 
the  means  that  every  one  can  use  if  he  will ; 
and  yet  for  all  this  many  people  never  pray. 

Reader,  beware  lest  your  neglect  of  prayer 
should  prove  your  condemnation.  If  Jesus  is 
to  save  you,  you  must  pray.  If  your  sins  are 
to  be  forgiven,  you  must  pray.  If  the  Spirit 
is  to  dwell  in  your  heart,  you  must  pray.'  'If 
you  are  to  have  strength  against  sin,  you  must 
pray.  If  you  are  to  dwell  with  God  in  heav- 
en, your  heart  must  talk  with  God  upon  earth 
by  prayer. 

Oh  !  be  not  a  prayerless  Christian,  whatever 
others  may  think  right.  Begin  to  pray  this 
day  if  you  never  prayed  before.  Eemember, 
if  you  and  I  are  to  meet  each  other  with  joy 
at  Christ's  appearing,  you  must  pray.  ^ 

Another  piece  of  advice  is  this — '■^Attend 


TO  SAY  UNTO  THEE." 


359 


regularly  on  means  of  graced  Kemeraber  the 
Sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holj.  Go  to  some 
place  of  worship  where  the  Gospel  is  preach- 
ed. Faith  cometh  by  hearing.  Those  who 
never  hear  are  never  likely  to  believe  the 
Gospel. 

Eeader,  beware  lest  you  are  ruined  forever 
by  neglecting  the  means  which  God  has  ap- 
pointed for  your  salvation.  Alas  !  it  does  not 
need  to  be  a  murderer,  or  an  adulterer,  or  a 
thief,  or  a  liar,  in  order  to  be  in  the  way  to 
hell.  You  have  only  to  sit  still,  to  do  nothing, 
to  profane  the  Sabbath,  to  refuse  to  listen  to 
instruction,  and  in  hell  you  will  find  yourself 
at  last.  Oh !  do  not  let  this  be  your  end. 
Draw  nigh  to  God  and  He  will  draw  nigh  to 
you.  Walk  in  the  road  where  Jesus  loves  to 
walk,  and  who  can  tell  but  He  will  one  day 
make  you  one  of  His  believing  people  ? 

Eeader,  I  commend  these  things  to  your 
special  notice.  I  know  they  are  worth  think- 
ing over. 

The  Lord  grant,  if  you  never  thought  of 
them  before,  that  you  may  go  on  thinking, 


360 


"l  HAVE  SOMEWHAT,"  ETC. 


thinking,  thinking  about  tliem  till  your  soul 
is  saved. 

The  Lord  grant,  if  you  have  thought  of 
them,  that  you  may  think  of  them  more  and 
more  every  year  you  live. 

The  more  jou  think  of  them  the  happier 
you  "Will  be. 

I  remain,  your  affectionate  friend, 

J.  C.  EYLE. 


1^ 


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